Alotaibi Mohammed M, Istepanian Robert, Philip Nada
Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Imperial College, London, UK.
Mhealth. 2016 Aug 24;2:33. doi: 10.21037/mhealth.2016.08.01. eCollection 2016.
Diabetes is a chronic disease, with high prevalence across many nations, which is characterized by elevated level of blood glucose and risk of acute and chronic complication. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has one of the highest levels of diabetes prevalence globally. It is well-known that the treatment of diabetes is complex process and requires both lifestyle change and clear pharmacologic treatment plan. To avoid the complication from diabetes, the effective behavioural change and extensive education and self-management is one of the key approaches to alleviate such complications. However, this process is lengthy and expensive. The recent studies on the user of smart phone technologies for diabetes self-management have proven to be an effective tool in controlling hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels especially in type-2 diabetic (T2D) patients. However, to date no reported study addressed the effectiveness of this approach in the in Saudi patients. This study investigates the impact of using mobile health technologies for the self-management of diabetes in Saudi Arabia.
In this study, an intelligent mobile diabetes management system (SAED), tailored for T2D patients in KSA was developed. A pilot study of the SAED system was conducted in Saudi Arabia with 20 diabetic patients for 6 months duration. The patients were randomly categorized into a control group who did not use the SAED system and an intervention group whom used the SAED system for their diabetes management during this period. At the end of the follow-up period, the HbA1c levels in the patients in both groups were measure together with a diabetes knowledge test was also conducted to test the diabetes awareness of the patients.
The results of SAED pilot study showed that the patients in the intervention group were able to significantly decrease their HbA1c levels compared to the control group. The SAED system also enhanced the diabetes awareness amongst the patients in the intervention group during the trial period. These outcomes confirm the global studies on the effectiveness of smart phone technologies in diabetes management. The significance of the study is that this was one of the first such studies conducted on Saudi patients and of their acceptance for such technology in their diabetes self-management treatment plans.
The pilot study of the SAED system showed that a mobile health technology can significantly improve the HbA1C levels among Saudi diabetic and improve their disease management plans. The SAED system can also be an effective and low-cost solution in improving the quality of life of diabetic patients in the Kingdom considering the high level of prevalence and the increasing economic burden of this disease.
糖尿病是一种慢性病，在许多国家都有很高的患病率，其特征是血糖水平升高以及存在急慢性并发症风险。沙特阿拉伯王国（KSA）是全球糖尿病患病率最高的国家之一。众所周知，糖尿病的治疗是一个复杂的过程，需要改变生活方式并制定明确的药物治疗方案。为避免糖尿病并发症，有效的行为改变、广泛的教育和自我管理是减轻此类并发症的关键方法之一。然而，这个过程漫长且昂贵。最近关于使用智能手机技术进行糖尿病自我管理的研究已证明，这是控制血红蛋白（HbA1c）水平的有效工具，尤其对于2型糖尿病（T2D）患者。然而，迄今为止，尚无报道研究该方法在沙特患者中的有效性。本研究调查了在沙特阿拉伯使用移动健康技术进行糖尿病自我管理的影响。
在本研究中，开发了一种为沙特2型糖尿病患者量身定制的智能移动糖尿病管理系统（SAED）。在沙特阿拉伯对SAED系统进行了一项试点研究，20名糖尿病患者参与，为期6个月。患者被随机分为两组，一组为未使用SAED系统的对照组，另一组为在此期间使用SAED系统进行糖尿病管理的干预组。在随访期结束时，测量两组患者的HbA1c水平，并进行糖尿病知识测试以检测患者的糖尿病认知情况。
SAED试点研究结果表明，与对照组相比，干预组患者能够显著降低其HbA1c水平。在试验期间，SAED系统还提高了干预组患者的糖尿病认知。这些结果证实了关于智能手机技术在糖尿病管理中有效性的全球研究。该研究的意义在于，这是首批针对沙特患者进行的此类研究之一，以及他们对这种技术在糖尿病自我管理治疗方案中的接受程度。
SAED系统的试点研究表明，移动健康技术可以显著提高沙特糖尿病患者的HbA1C水平，并改善他们的疾病管理计划。考虑到该国糖尿病的高患病率以及该疾病不断增加的经济负担，SAED系统也可以成为提高沙特糖尿病患者生活质量的有效且低成本的解决方案。
