Toward a conceptual framework for mobile-based diabetes management system: an evaluation of functions and features of best mobile apps for diabetes Raheleh Salari1, Farhad Fatehi2, 3, Sharareh R. Niakan Kalhori1 1 Department of Health Information Management, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 2Australian eHealth Research Centre, CSIRO, Brisbane, Australia 3Centre for Online Health, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
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Background
Results
Mobile health is a subset of e-health, which can play an important role in the management of chronic diseases such as diabetes. However, the uptake of mhealth is still very low for clinical purposes. Lack of an appropriate framework prevents mobile-based solutions to match the requirements of chronic care. The aim of this study was to explore functions and features of mobile phone applications (apps) for diabetes, and investigate to what extend current mobile apps are capable for the delivery of diabetes care.
Most of the papers reviewed have reported mobile apps developed for Android and iOS platforms. A total of 43 unique functions were identified in the papers reporting the evaluation of mobile diabetes apps. Five main modules were emerged by aggregating the extracted functions: Data entry; Evaluation; Communication; Feedback; and Education.
Methods A review of the literature was conducted to identify the papers reporting the use of mhealth for diabetes, and examine the functions of their apps. The eHealth Enhanced Chronic Care Model (eCCM) was used as the theoretical basis of this study. The features and functions of the selected mobile applications were extracted and mapped to the e-CCM model. Similar functions were aggregated to develop the main modules of a comprehensive mobile-based diabetes management system.
The components of the eCCM model which were most frequently addressed by the mobile apps were: 1) Self-management; 2) Delivery system design; and 3) eHealth education. We did not find any report of a mobile app that addresses all components of this model.
Figure 2: Diabetes mobile applications has different layouts, features and functions.
Conclusion There are numerous mobile apps designed for the management of diabetes, but none of them can be used solely for the delivery of a comprehensive health care using information and communication technology. The findings of this study can be used as a basis for the development of a conceptual framework for design of more comprehensive mobile apps for the management of diabetes. Figure 1: The eHealth Enhanced Chronic Care Model. Proposed by Gee, P M; Greenwood, D A; Paterniti, D A; Ward, D; and Miller, L M S (JMIR, 2015). This is a derivation of the Chronic Care Model.
REFERENCES FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
Raheleh Salari:
[email protected] Farhad Fatehi:
[email protected] Sharareh R. Niakan-Kalhori:
[email protected]
Gee, Perry M., et al. "The eHealth Enhanced Chronic Care Model: A Theory Derivation Approach." Journal of medical Internet research 17.4 (2015). Nundy, Shantanu, et al. "Using mobile health to support the chronic care model: developing an institutional initiative." International journal of telemedicine and applications 2012 (2012): 18. Khoja, Shariq, et al. "Conceptual framework for development of comprehensive e-health evaluation tool." Telemedicine and e-Health 19.1 (2013): 48-53.
