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Mobile apps for the treatment of diabetes patients: a systematic review

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Abstract

Purpose

The incidence of diabetes mellitus (DM) is a significant and growing health problem for all countries, regardless of their development level. Providing mobile computing solutions that assist the patients in their daily treatment routine can be an excellent ally.

Objective

This systematic review aims to assess how mobile apps for DM treatment follow-up can contribute to improving patients’ quality of life.

Method

We searched the bases ACM Digital Library, PubMed, Springer Link, IEEE Explore, and Science Direct databases. We obtained 1608 primary studies; 1485 were used in the screening phase and 791 in the full screening phase, resulting in 106 articles for data extraction from 2013 to 2018.

Results

We have identified the main functionalities and characteristics necessary for an application for managing DM, such as automation and ease of data collection.

Conclusion

We found that apps for type 1 DM help treat patients, facilitate the collection and access to data, and allow better daily monitoring of treatment.

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Abbreviations

DM:

Diabetes mellitus

DM1:

Diabetes mellitus type 1

DM2:

Diabetes mellitus type 2

DMG:

Diabetes mellitus gestational

IDF:

International Diabetes Federation

SLR:

Systematic literature review

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Unifesp - Universidade Federal de São Paulo.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Ciência e Tecnologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São José dos Campos, Avenida Cesare Mansueto Giulio Lattes 120, Eugênio de Mello, CEP: 12247-014, São Paulo, Brasil

    Walfran R. V. C. de Araújo, Luiz Eduardo Galvão Martins & Ezequiel Roberto Zorzal

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  1. Walfran R. V. C. de Araújo
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  2. Luiz Eduardo Galvão Martins
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Correspondence to Walfran R. V. C. de Araújo.

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de Araújo, W.R.V.C., Martins, L.E.G. & Zorzal, E.R. Mobile apps for the treatment of diabetes patients: a systematic review. Res. Biomed. Eng. 37, 273–288 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42600-021-00150-7

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