Impact of Information Technology on the Therapy of Type-1 Diabetes: A Case Study of Children and Adolescents in Germany

• Main Authors: Rolf-Dietrich Berndt, Claude Takenga, Petra Preik, Sebastian Kuehn, Luise Berndt, Herbert Mayer, Alexander Kaps, Ralf Schiel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2014-04-01
• Series: Journal of Personalized Medicine
• Subjects: mHealth; diabetes management; telemedicine; app; information technology; telematics platform
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4426/4/2/200

Being able to manage and adjust insulin doses is a key part of managing type-1 diabetes. Children and adolescents with type-1 diabetes mellitus often have serious difficulties with this dosage adjustment. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the impact of using novel mobile, web and communication technologies in assisting their therapy and treatment. A trial was conducted in the north-eastern part of Germany to evaluate the impact of the “Mobil Diab”, a mobile diabetes management system, on the clinical outcome. 68 subjects aged between 8 and 18 years, divided randomly into control and intervention groups, were included into the study. Metrics such as changes in the quality of metabolic control, changes in psychological parameters, usability and acceptance of the technology were used for evaluation purpose. Metabolic control was mainly assessed by the mean HbAlc. Analysis showed a good acceptance of the proposed system. An overall improvement in mean levels of HbA1c was observed, however further studies will be conducted to prove evidence of the weight and BMI improvements. Moreover, initial indications of positive impact on the improvement in psychological parameters were presumed based on the result of the conducted study. The system appeared to be an efficient and time saving tool in diabetes management.