Despite the wide variety of computer and smartphone technology dedicated to improving the lifestyle of those suffering from diabetes, research show that these programs do little to help people live healthier lives. This study published in The Cochrane Library analysis 16 other studies that looked into different types of interactive intervention. These programs varied from peer support groups to social network sites.
The results of these studies should that, while these programs have some slight positive effects in terms of helping diabetics regulate blood sugar levels, they did little to help sufferers with the other effects of diabetes such as weight gain, depression, and overall quality of life. In addition, the advantages gained by using computer-based support deteriorate decrease after six months.
Kingshuk Pal, the lead researcher of the research department of primary care and population health at UCL in London, concluded the study thus:
"Our review shows that although popular, computer-based diabetes self-management interventions currently have limited evidence supporting their use. There are also few studies looking at cost-effectiveness or long-term impact on patient health."
Furthermore, Dr. Pal emphasized that managing diabetes is a lifelong and difficult challenge, and the computer-based tools used in the study did little to truly help patients.
"Effective self-management is a complex task that may require changes to many aspects of people's lives. Any intervention to help that process needs to support sustained behaviour change in different areas like eating habits, physical activity or taking medication regularly and provide emotional support. We did not see any convincing evidence for long-term change like this in the interventions we looked at."
The study was based on 16 separate trials, with 3,578 people with type two diabetes participating in the study. Those selected use various different programs on smart phones and computers as part of their diabetic control plan for lengths of time ranging from one to twelve months.
Thanks to- Medical News Today
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