Last worldwide statistics on Diabetes Type II shows that 24% of newly diagnosed cases are adolescents. Adolescents’ compliance with self-management guidelines regarding blood glucose monitoring, medication adherence, diet, and physical activity presents a big challenge to healthcare providers. While mobile technologies promise to provide the necessary motivation for adolescents to self-manage, clinical evaluation of traditional mobile apps found no significant difference in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level between treatment groups using mobile apps for Diabetes II and the control groups. Previous studies have found no significant difference in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level between treatment groups using mobile apps for Diabetes II and the control groups. I
We reviewed 70 applications for Type II diabetes and found that 51-68% support glucose monitoring, dietary intake, and physical activity, while only 3-17% support gaming, social media, and personalization of the app design based on patient’s characteristics. Twenty-three patients in Qatar using the services of Qatar Diabetes Association were interviewed about technologies they use to support self-management.
Adolescents complained that apps lack an understanding of patients, the Qatari culture and the problems facing adolescents to motivate users to change their behavior. The participants proposed future apps that 1) support personalized gaming; 2) adapt to the patient culture and character; 3) capitalize on social networking; 3) provide the right motivation to take actionable steps; and 4) integrate features across apps.
Mobile apps for Diabetes self-management require understanding the character of patients and using the knowledge to personalize gaming scenarios that motivate and is aligned with the Qatari culture.