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Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Diabetes

Date Submitted: Mar 12, 2023
Date Accepted: Nov 27, 2023
Date Submitted to PubMed: Nov 28, 2023

The final, peer-reviewed published version of this preprint can be found here:

Health Outcomes Following Engagement With a Digital Health Tool Among People With Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes: Prospective Evaluation Study

Abdelhameed F, Pearson E, Parsons N, Barber TM, Panesar A, Summers C, Fosse M, Hanson P

Health Outcomes Following Engagement With a Digital Health Tool Among People With Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes: Prospective Evaluation Study

JMIR Diabetes 2023;8:e47224

DOI: 10.2196/47224

PMID: 38016426

PMCID: 10784975

Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.

Health outcomes following engagement with a digital health tool GroHealth app amongst people with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes

  • Farah Abdelhameed; 
  • Elle Pearson; 
  • Nick Parsons; 
  • Thomas M. Barber; 
  • Arjun Panesar; 
  • Charlotte Summers; 
  • Michaela Fosse; 
  • Petra Hanson

ABSTRACT

Background:

Diabetes is a chronic condition causing morbidity and mortality globally, with a growing economic burden on healthcare systems. Complications from poorly controlled diabetes are associated with increased socioeconomic costs and a reduced quality of life. Smartphones have become an influential platform providing feasible tools such as health-apps to deliver tailored support to enhance diabetic patients’ ability for self-management. GroHealth is a NHSX-certified digital health tool used to deliver educational and monitoring support to facilitate the development of skills and practices for maintaining good health.

Objective:

To assess self-reported outcomes of the GroHealth app amongst diabetic and prediabetic users and identify the factors that determine engagement with the digital health tool.

Methods:

This was a service evaluation of self-reported data collected prospectively by the developers of the GroHealth digital tool. The EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D) questionnaire is a standardised tool used to measure health status for clinical and economic appraisal. GroHealth users completed the EQ-5D at baseline and 6 months after using the app. Users provided informed consent for use of their anonymised data for research purposes. EQ-5D index scores and visual analogue scale (VAS) scores were calculated at baseline and 6 months for individuals with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Descriptive statistics and multiple-regression models were utilised to assess changes in the outcome measures and determine the factors that affected engagement with the digital tool.

Results:

EQ-5D index scores are average values that reflect people’s preferences about their health state (1=full health, 0=moribund). There was a significant and clinically meaningful increase in mean EQ-5D index scores amongst app users between baseline (0.746 [SD 0.23]) and follow-up (0.792 (SD 0.22), P<.001). The greatest change was observed in mean VAS score with percentage change of 18.3% improvement (baseline: 61.7 (SD 18.1), follow-up: 73.0 (SD 18.8), P<.001). Baseline EQ-5D index scores, ethnicity and education variables were associated with significant changes in follow-up EQ-5D index scores and engagement with the application (P<.001).

Conclusions:

This study provides evidence of significant positive effect on self-reported quality of life amongst people living with T2DM engaging with a digital health intervention. The improvements, as demonstrated by the EQ-5D questionnaire, are facilitated through access to education and monitoring support tools within the app. This provides an opportunity for healthcare professionals to incorporate NHS certified digital tools, such as GroHealth as part of the holistic management of people living with diabetes.


 Citation

Please cite as:

Abdelhameed F, Pearson E, Parsons N, Barber TM, Panesar A, Summers C, Fosse M, Hanson P

Health Outcomes Following Engagement With a Digital Health Tool Among People With Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes: Prospective Evaluation Study

JMIR Diabetes 2023;8:e47224

DOI: 10.2196/47224

PMID: 38016426

PMCID: 10784975

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