Abstract
The prevalence of diabetes is rising globally. Poor glucose control results in higher rates of diabetes-related complications and an increase in health care expenditure. Diabetes self-management education (DSME) training has shown to improve glucose control, and thus may reduce long-term complications. Implementation of diabetes self-management education programs may not be feasible for all the institutions or in developing countries due to lack of resources and higher costs associated with DSME training. With the increasing use of smartphones and Internet, there is an opportunity to use digital tools for training people with diabetes to self-manage their disease. A number of mobile applications, Internet portal, and websites are available to help patients to improve their diabetes care. However, the studies are limited to show its effectiveness and cost-benefits in diabetes self-management. In addition, there are many challenges ahead for the digital health industry. In this review, we assess the use of newer technologies and digital health in diabetes self-management with a focus on future directions and potential challenges.
Highlights
The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) estimates a global epidemic of diabetes
Poor glucose control leads to long-term diabetes, micro- and macro-vascular complications resulting in higher morbidity, and mortality that accounts for 4.9 million deaths in 2014 and $612 billion in health care expenditure [1]
diabetes self-management education (DSME) is associated with a higher cost as $4.8 million were reimbursed by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) in 2010 for DSME training for the Medicaid population [4]
Summary
The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) estimates a global epidemic of diabetes. In 2014, 387 million people had diabetes, and it will increase to 592 million by 2035 [1]. American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends glycosylated hemoglobin (A1c) goal of 7 or less to prevent diabetes complications [2] To achieve this goal, diabetes self-management education (DSME) is crucial [2, 3]. As the number of people with diabetes rises, and with an inadequate number of specialists and lack of resources in developing countries, there is an opportunity and growing need to develop cost-effective supporting tools for DSME to improve overall diabetes outcomes. In this manuscript, we review the use of newer technologies and digital health in diabetes self-management with a focus on future directions and potential challenges.
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