Mobile Applications and the Effect of Lifestyle Practices on Controlling Blood Glucose in Adolescents with T1DM: A scoping review

Abstract

Abstract

Introduction: mobile apps are becoming a trend in the medical care process and have showed promising results in adult care especially among T1DM patients. However, their effect in T1DM adolescents is still ambiguous, where many aspects in the management process, lifestyle practices in particular, are lacking. Objectives: to map the effect of mobile app usage on lifestyle practices (carbohydrate counting and physical activity) in controlling glycaemic level in adolescents with T1DM. Method: a scoping review was carried out (June to July 2019) and three databases (CINAHL, PubMed and Web of Science) were searched for relevant papers. Using MeSH key terms, the search was conducted from 2009 to 2019 without considering any specific study design. All adolescents aged from 12-19, with T1DM, used mobile phone apps and reported lifestyle practices or biomarkers were eligible. However, studies that involved adolescent-parent joint responsibility in the self-monitoring process (with full or major responsibility on the parent) were excluded. Results: in this scoping review,11 studies (12 publications) were identified; seven RCTs, three observational studies and one mixed method study. 11 apps were reported; studies’ recruitment numbers of participants ranged from 5-425; follow-up period ranged from two weeks to one year and the age ranged from 8-22 years. BG (five studies) and HbA1c (eight studies) were not significant while the SMBG checking frequency was significant in five articles [P-value <0.05]. the carbohydrates counting was reported in five studies; one excluded the carbohydrate data, two reported that 88-88.5% used the apps mainly for carbohydrate counting; one reported the notation of carbohydrate data entry and one reported the visualisation of the meals. The physical activity level was mentioned in three studies without finding any significance. Conclusion: overall, the included studies could not draw a clear map of the effect of using mobile apps on lifestyle practices due to the scarcity of the data. Thus, more studies that focus on this area are needed.