Boyle Leah, Grainger Rebecca, Hall Rosemary M, Krebs Jeremy D
Department of Medicine, University of Otago Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.
Centre for Endocrine Diabetes and Obesity Research, Capital and Coast Health, Wellington Regional Hospital, Wellington, New Zealand.
JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2017 Jun 30;5(6):e85. doi: 10.2196/mhealth.7263.
People with diabetes mellitus (DM) are using mobile phone apps to support self-management. The numerous apps available to assist with diabetes management have a variety of functions. Some functions, like insulin dose calculators, have significant potential for harm.
The study aimed to establish (1) whether people with DM in Wellington, New Zealand, use apps for DM self-management and evaluate desirable features of apps and (2) whether health professionals (HPs) in New Zealand treating people with DM recommend apps to patients, the features HPs regard as important, and their confidence with recommending apps.
A survey of patients seen at a hospital diabetes clinic over 12 months (N=539) assessed current app use and desirable features. A second survey of HPs attending a diabetes conference (n=286) assessed their confidence with app recommendations and perceived usefulness.
Of the 189 responders (35.0% response rate) to the patient survey, 19.6% (37/189) had used a diabetes app. App users were younger and in comparison to other forms of diabetes mellitus, users prominently had type 1 DM. The most favored feature of the app users was a glucose diary (87%, 32/37), and an insulin calculator was the most desirable function for a future app (46%, 17/37). In non-app users, the most desirable feature for a future app was a glucose diary (64.4%, 98/152). Of the 115 responders (40.2% response rate) to the HPs survey, 60.1% (68/113) had recommended a diabetes app. Diaries for blood glucose levels and carbohydrate counting were considered the most useful app features and the features HPs felt most confident to recommend. HPs were least confident in recommending insulin calculation apps.
The use of apps to record blood glucose was the most favored function in apps used by people with diabetes, with interest in insulin dose calculating function. HPs do not feel confident in recommending insulin dose calculators. There is an urgent need for an app assessment process to give confidence in the quality and safety of diabetes management apps to people with diabetes (potential app users) and HPs (potential app prescribers).
糖尿病患者正在使用手机应用程序来支持自我管理。有大量可用于辅助糖尿病管理的应用程序，具备各种功能。其中一些功能，如胰岛素剂量计算器，存在重大潜在危害。
本研究旨在确定（1）新西兰惠灵顿的糖尿病患者是否使用应用程序进行糖尿病自我管理，并评估应用程序的理想功能；（2）新西兰治疗糖尿病患者的医疗专业人员是否会向患者推荐应用程序、他们认为重要的功能以及他们对推荐应用程序的信心。
对一家医院糖尿病门诊12个月内就诊的患者（N = 539）进行调查，评估当前应用程序的使用情况和理想功能。对参加糖尿病会议的医疗专业人员（n = 286）进行第二项调查，评估他们对应用程序推荐的信心和感知有用性。
在患者调查的189名回复者（回复率35.0%）中，19.6%（37/189）使用过糖尿病应用程序。应用程序使用者更年轻，与其他类型的糖尿病相比，使用者中1型糖尿病患者占比突出。应用程序使用者最喜欢的功能是血糖日记（87%，32/37），胰岛素计算器是未来应用程序最期望的功能（46%，17/37）。在非应用程序使用者中，未来应用程序最期望的功能是血糖日记（
