BACKGROUND

Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 is a significant global health issue with a high prevalence in the Philippines. Managing this condition effectively is crucial, and digital technologies, particularly smartphone (mHealth) applications, have emerged as a potential tool in diabetes self-management.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of smartphone (mHealth) application use in achieving glycemic control among adults with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, focusing on HbA1c levels and medication adherence.

This systematic review and meta-analysis, adhering to PRISMA guidelines, analyzed randomized controlled trials from databases like PubMed and Embase, comparing interventions using mHealth applications with standard care. The primary measures were HbA1c levels and medication adherence.

Ten studies involving 20,984 participants were included in the meta-analysis. Using mHealth applications led to an average HbA1c reduction of 0.36%, indicating improved glycemic control. There was considerable heterogeneity (I2 = 91%) because of the clinical and methodological diversity of the included studies. Subgroup analysis showed that the younger and older age groups, shorter and longer T2DM duration, and lower and higher HbA1c baseline benefited from its use. Sensitivity analysis still showed high heterogeneity (95%-97%), reflecting clinical diversity. A narrative analysis of two studies highlighted the utility of mHealth applications in tracking diet, physical activity, and vital stats, aiding medication adherence through reminders and data sharing with healthcare providers.

This systematic review and meta-analysis showed the effectiveness of mHealth application use in achieving glycemic control among adults with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus by improving HbA1c levels and medication adherence. Integrating mHealth applications as adjuncts in family and community medicine as part of personalized care for managing type 2 diabetes in the Philippines can help achieve glycemic control and medication adherence. Future studies should focus on longitudinal assessments, exploring cultural and linguistic factors in the Filipino context to optimize diabetes care within this specialized medical framework.

Blood glucose monitoring has become the weakest point in the overall management of diabetes in China. Long-term monitoring of blood glucose levels in diabetic patients has become an important means of controlling the development of diabetes and its complications, so that technological innovations in blood glucose testing methods have far-reaching implications for accurate blood glucose testing. This article discusses the basic principles of minimally invasive and non-invasive blood glucose testing assays, including urine glucose assays, tear assays, methods of extravasation of tissue fluid, and optical detection methods, etc., focuses on the advantages of minimally invasive and non-invasive blood glucose testing methods and the latest relevant results, and summarizes the current problems of various testing methods and prospects for future development trends.
Humans ; Blood Glucose ; Blood Glucose Self-Monitoring/methods* ; Diabetes Mellitus/diagnosis* ; Monitoring, Physiologic/methods* ; Tears

Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) technology developed rapidly in recent years, and new products came out all the time. Nowadays, CGM plays an important role in diabetes management and has been recommended by various guideline all over the world. CGM equipment classification, progress on glucose sensor technology, and the new application and expansion of CGM technology in the field of diabetes and non-diabetes were briefly introduced in the study.
Humans ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 ; Blood Glucose ; Blood Glucose Self-Monitoring ; Technology

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the mechanism of self-efficacy between self-management ability and self-management behavior and its differences among patients with different disease courses through mediation tests. METHODS: In the study, 489 patients with type 2 diabetes who attended the endocrinology departments of four hospitals in Shanxi Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region from July to September 2022 were enrolled as the study population. They were investigated by General Information Questionnaire, Diabetes Self-Management Scale, Chinese version of Diabetes Empowerment Simplified Scale, and Diabetes Self-Efficacy Scale. Mediation analyses were performed using the linear regression model, Sobel test, and Bootstrap test in the software Stata version 15.0 and divided the patients into different disease course groups for subgroup analysis according to whether the disease course was > 5 years. RESULTS: In this study, the score of self-management behavior in the patients with type 2 diabetes was 6.16±1.41, the score of self-management ability was 3.99±0.74, and the score of self-efficacy was 7.05±1.90. The results of the study showed that self-efficacy was positively correlated with self-management ability (r=0.33) as well as self-management behavior (r=0.47) in the patients with type 2 diabetes (P < 0.01). The mediating effect of self-efficacy accounted for 38.28% of the total effect of self-management ability on self-management behaviors and was higher in the behaviors of blood glucose monitoring (43.45%) and diet control (52.63%). The mediating effect of self-efficacy accounted for approximately 40.99% of the total effect for the patients with disease course ≤ 5 years, while for the patients with disease course > 5 years, the mediating effect accounted for 39.20% of the total effect. CONCLUSION Self-efficacy enhanced the effect of self-management ability on the behavior of the patients with type 2 diabetes, and this positive effect was more significant for the patients with shorter disease course. Targeted health education should be carried out to enhance patients' self-efficacy and self-management ability according to their disease characteristics, to stimulate their inner action, to promote the development of their self-management behaviors, and to form a more stable and long-term mechanism for disease management.
Humans ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/therapy* ; Self Efficacy ; Self-Management ; Blood Glucose Self-Monitoring ; Blood Glucose ; Self Care

BACKGROUND: Alcohol consumption is a prevalent behavior that is bi-directionally related to the risk of type 2 diabetes. However, the effect of daily alcohol consumption on glucose levels in real-world situations in the general population has not been well elucidated. This study aimed to clarify the relationship between alcohol consumption and all-day and time-specific glucose levels among non-diabetic individuals. METHODS: We investigated 913 non-diabetic males and females, aged 40-69 years, during 2018-2020 from four communities across Japan. The daily alcohol consumption was assessed using a self-report questionnaire. All-day and time-specific average glucose levels were estimated from the interstitial glucose concentrations measured using the Flash glucose monitoring system for a median duration of 13 days. Furthermore, we investigated the association between all-day and time-specific average glucose levels and habitual daily alcohol consumption levels, using never drinkers as the reference, and performed multiple linear regression analyses after adjusting for age, community, and other diabetes risk factors for males and females separately. RESULTS: All-day average glucose levels did not vary according to alcohol consumption categories in both males and females. However, for males, the average glucose levels between 5:00 and 11:00 h and between 11:00 and 17:00 h were higher in moderate and heavy drinkers than in never drinkers, with the difference values of 4.6 and 4.7 mg/dL for moderate drinkers, and 5.7 and 6.8 mg/dL for heavy drinkers. Conversely, the average glucose levels between 17:00 and 24:00 h were lower in male moderate and heavy drinkers and female current drinkers than in never drinkers; the difference values of mean glucose levels were -5.8 for moderate drinkers, and -6.1 mg/dL for heavy drinkers in males and -2.7 mg/dL for female current drinkers. CONCLUSIONS Alcohol consumption was associated with glucose levels in a time-dependent biphasic pattern.
Humans ; Male ; Female ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; Blood Glucose Self-Monitoring ; Blood Glucose ; Alcohol Drinking/epidemiology* ; Risk Factors ; Alcoholic Intoxication

Most information used to evaluate diabetic statuses is collected at a special time-point, such as taking fasting plasma glucose test and providing a limited view of individual's health and disease risk. As a new parameter for continuously evaluating personal clinical statuses, the newly developed technique "continuous glucose monitoring" (CGM) can characterize glucose dynamics. By calculating the complexity of glucose time series index (CGI) with refined composite multi-scale entropy analysis of the CGM data, the study showed for the first time that the complexity of glucose time series in subjects decreased gradually from normal glucose tolerance to impaired glucose regulation and then to type 2 diabetes (P for trend < 0.01). Furthermore, CGI was significantly associated with various parameters such as insulin sensitivity/secretion (all P < 0.01), and multiple linear stepwise regression showed that the disposition index, which reflects β-cell function after adjusting for insulin sensitivity, was the only independent factor correlated with CGI (P < 0.01). Our findings indicate that the CGI derived from the CGM data may serve as a novel marker to evaluate glucose homeostasis.
Humans ; Glucose ; Blood Glucose ; Insulin Resistance/physiology* ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/diagnosis* ; Blood Glucose Self-Monitoring ; Time Factors ; Insulin

BACKGROUND: Corneal confocal microscopy (CCM) is a noninvasive technique to detect early nerve damage of diabetic sensorimotor polyneuropathy (DSPN). Time in range (TIR) is an emerging metric of glycemic control which was reported to be associated with diabetic complications. We sought to explore the relationship between TIR and corneal nerve parameters in asymptomatic patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 206 asymptomatic inpatients with T2DM were recruited. After 7 days of continuous glucose monitoring, the TIR was calculated as the percentage of time in the glucose range of 3.9 to 10.0 mmol/L. CCM was performed to determine corneal nerve fiber density, corneal nerve branch density, and corneal nerve fiber length (CNFL). Abnormal CNFL was defined as ≤15.30 mm/mm 2 . RESULTS: Abnormal CNFL was found in 30.6% (63/206) of asymptomatic subjects. Linear regression analyses revealed that TIR was positively correlated with CCM parameters both in the crude and adjusted models (all P   <  0.05). Each 10% increase in TIR was associated with a 28.2% (95% CI: 0.595-0.866, P  = 0.001) decreased risk of abnormal CNFL after adjusting for covariates. With the increase of TIR quartiles, corneal nerve fiber parameters increased significantly (all P for trend <0.01). The receiver operating characteristic curve indicated that the optimal cutoff point of TIR was 77.5% for predicting abnormal CNFL in asymptomatic patients. CONCLUSIONS There is a significant independent correlation between TIR and corneal nerve fiber loss in asymptomatic T2DM patients. TIR may be a useful surrogate marker for early diagnosis of DSPN.
Humans ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/complications* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Blood Glucose Self-Monitoring ; Blood Glucose ; Nerve Fibers ; Diabetic Neuropathies ; Cornea ; Microscopy, Confocal/methods*

Blood Glucose Self-Monitoring ; Blood Glucose ; Cornea ; Microscopy, Confocal

The continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS) has been clinically applied to monitor the dynamic change of the subcutaneous interstitial glucose concentration which is a function of the blood glucose level by glucose sensors. It can track blood glucose levels all day along, and thus provide comprehensive and reliable information about blood glucose dynamics. The clinical application of CGMS enables monitoring of blood glucose fluctuations and the discovery of hidden hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia that are difficult to be detected by traditional methods. As a CGMS needs to work subcutaneously for a long time, a series of factors such as biocompatibility, enzyme inactivation, oxygen deficiency, foreign body reaction, implant size, electrode flexibility, error correction, comfort, device toxicity, electrical safety, et al. should be considered beforehand. The study focused on the difficulties in the technology, and compared the products of Abbott, Medtronic and DexCom, then summarized their cutting-edge. Finally, this study expounded some key technologies in dynamic blood glucose monitoring and therefore can be utilized as a reference for the development of CGMS.
Blood Glucose ; Blood Glucose Self-Monitoring/methods* ; Humans ; Hyperglycemia ; Hypoglycemia ; Monitoring, Ambulatory/methods* ; Monitoring, Physiologic

Blood glucose monitoring is of great significance to diabetic patients, and the development of rapid, accurate and real-time glucose detection technology has become a research hotspot nowadays. This study introduces the concept and classification of the enzyme-free glucose sensor, expounds enzymefree glucose sensor electrode characterization methods and the application progress of different materials in enzyme-free blood glucose sensors. Meanwhile, some problems of enzyme-free glucose sensor existing in the current research and its future application prospects also will be discussed.
Blood Glucose ; Blood Glucose Self-Monitoring ; Electrodes ; Glucose ; Humans ; Monitoring, Physiologic