University of Erfurt,Germany(Health Communication/Communication Science).
Nanyang Technological University,Singapore(Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information).
Int J Technol Assess Health Care. 2019 Jan;35(2):150-159. doi: 10.1017/S0266462319000163.
Smart device apps for diabetes have the potential to support patients in their daily disease management. However, uncertainty exists regarding their suitability for empowering patients to improve self-management behaviors. This paper addresses a general research gap regarding theoretically based examinations of empowerment in diabetes research, by examining how diabetes app features correspond with conceptual indicators of empowerment.
We examined features of 121 apps for diabetes self-management available in Singapore, with the second highest proportion of diabetes among developed nations, for psychological empowerment (feeling of empowerment) and for behavioral empowerment (social support).
Diabetes apps studied offered a narrow range of features, with limited feature-sets corresponding to indicators of empowerment. Customization as a strategy to improve perceived relevance of diabetes self-management as an indicator of psychological empowerment was especially limited. Moreover, there was a lack of features supporting patients' communication with healthcare professionals and within their private social networks.
Mobile apps for diabetes self-management failed to provide relevant features for empowering patients. Specific practical recommendations target improved adoption, sustained usage, and effectiveness of diabetes self-management apps.
糖尿病智能设备应用程序有可能帮助患者进行日常疾病管理。然而，这些应用程序在增强患者自我管理行为方面的适用性仍存在不确定性。本文通过考察糖尿病研究中基于理论的授权概念指标，解决了糖尿病研究中关于基于理论的授权检查的普遍研究空白，考察了糖尿病应用程序功能与授权概念指标的对应关系。
我们考察了新加坡 121 种糖尿病自我管理应用程序的功能，新加坡是发达国家中糖尿病第二高的国家，考察了这些应用程序在心理授权（授权感）和行为授权（社会支持）方面的功能。
研究中的糖尿病应用程序提供了有限的功能，与授权指标相对应的功能集也很有限。个性化作为提高糖尿病自我管理的相关性的策略，作为心理授权的一个指标，尤其受到限制。此外，这些应用程序缺乏支持患者与医疗保健专业人员以及他们私人社交网络进行沟通的功能。
糖尿病自我管理的移动应用程序未能为患者提供相关的授权功能。具体的实际建议旨在提高糖尿病自我管理应用程序的采用率、持续使用率和有效性。
