title: DialBetics: A Novel Smartphone-based Self-management Support System for Type 2 Diabetes Patients.
abstract: Numerous diabetes-management systems and programs for improving glycemic control to meet guideline targets have been proposed, using IT technology. But all of them allow only limited-or no-real-time interaction between patients and the system in terms of system response to patient input; few studies have effectively assessed the systems' usability and feasibility to determine how well patients understand and can adopt the technology involved. DialBetics is composed of 4 modules: (1) data transmission module, (2) evaluation module, (3) communication module, and (4) dietary evaluation module. A 3-month randomized study was designed to assess the safety and usability of a remote health-data monitoring system, and especially its impact on modifying patient lifestyles to improve diabetes self-management and, thus, clinical outcomes. Fifty-four type 2 diabetes patients were randomly divided into 2 groups, 27 in the DialBetics group and 27 in the non-DialBetics control group. HbA1c and fasting blood sugar (FBS) values declined significantly in the DialBetics group: HbA1c decreased an average of 0.4% (from 7.1 ± 1.0% to 6.7 ± 0.7%) compared with an average increase of 0.1% in the non-DialBetics group (from 7.0 ± 0.9% to 7.1 ± 1.1%) (P = .015); The DialBetics group FBS decreased an average of 5.5 mg/dl compared with a non-DialBetics group average increase of 16.9 mg/dl (P = .019). BMI improvement-although not statistically significant because of the small sample size-was greater in the DialBetics group. DialBetics was shown to be a feasible and an effective tool for improving HbA1c by providing patients with real-time support based on their measurements and inputs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ubiquitous Health Informatics, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan Department of Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan kwaki-tky@umin.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Kayo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Waki
authors.affiliation: Department of Ubiquitous Health Informatics, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fujita
authors.affiliation: Department of Ubiquitous Health Informatics, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Uchimura
authors.affiliation: Business Development of Healthcare Business Smart-life Solutions Department, NTT DOCOMO, Inc, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Omae
authors.affiliation: Center for Knowledge Structuring, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Eiji
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Aramaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Ubiquitous Health Informatics, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Shigeko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.affiliation: Department of Ubiquitous Health Informatics, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Hanae
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Business Development of Healthcare Business Smart-life Solutions Department, NTT DOCOMO, Inc, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Haruka
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kadowaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Informatics and Economics, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohe
keywords: mobile phone; self-management; telemedicine; type 2 diabetes