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Use of self-monitoring tools in a clinic sample of adults with type 2 diabetes

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Translational Behavioral Medicine

ABSTRACT

Self-monitoring is an effective strategy for chronic disease management; many readily available mobile applications allow tracking of diabetes-related health behaviors but their use has not yet been integrated into routine clinical care. How patients engage with these applications in the real world is not well understood. The specific aim of this study is to survey adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D) regarding self-monitoring behaviors, including mobile application use. In 2015, we surveyed an adult diabetes clinic population (n = 96) regarding self-monitoring behaviors: diet, physical activity, weight, and blood glucose. Self-monitoring with any method ranged from 20–90 %. About half of the participants owned smartphones; few had mobile applications. The most common app-tracked behavior was physical activity, then weight and diet. Despite numerous available mobile health-tracking applications, few T2D adults from our sample used them, though many reported self-monitoring with other methods.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, 780 Welch Road, Palo Alto, CA, 94304, USA

    Molly L. Tanenbaum PhD

  2. Division of Endocrinology, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, 222 Richmond Street, Providence, RI, 02903, USA

    Harikrashna B. Bhatt MD

  3. Diabetes and Endocrinology Associates, 100 Highland Avenue, Providence, RI, 02906, USA

    Valerie A. Thomas MD

  4. Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, The Miriam Hospital/Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center, 196 Richmond Street, Providence, RI, 02903, USA

    Rena R. Wing PhD

Authors
  1. Molly L. Tanenbaum PhD
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  2. Harikrashna B. Bhatt MD
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  3. Valerie A. Thomas MD
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  4. Rena R. Wing PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Molly L. Tanenbaum PhD.

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Funding

This project was funded by an internal grant from the Brown University Clinical Psychology Training Consortium.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Implications

Practice: Diabetes care providers and mobile application developers have key roles to play in ensuring that applications meet evidence-based clinical recommendations, and in narrowing the gap between application availability and real-world use among adults with type 2 diabetes.

Policy: Greater emphasis should be placed on user-friendly applications that adhere to evidence-based clinical guidelines and integrate with diabetes healthcare delivery (e.g., transmitting blood glucose meter readings without need for human data entry).

Research: More research in clinical settings is needed to determine how best to implement mobile application tracking for adults with type 2 diabetes, and to identify which health behaviors and outcomes are most beneficial for this population to self-monitor.

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Cite this article

Tanenbaum, M.L., Bhatt, H.B., Thomas, V.A. et al. Use of self-monitoring tools in a clinic sample of adults with type 2 diabetes. Behav. Med. Pract. Policy Res. 7, 358–363 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-016-0418-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-016-0418-4

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