A mobile telehealth intervention for adults with insulin-requiring diabetes: early results of a mixed-methods randomized controlled trial

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Telehealth Chronic Disease Management System: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (Preprint)

BACKGROUND

Long-term daily health monitoring and management play a more significant role in telehealth management systems nowadays, which require evaluation indicators to present patients' general health conditions and become applicable to multiple chronic diseases.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of subjective indicators of telehealth chronic disease management system (TCDMS).

METHODS

We selected Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Scopus, Cochrane library, IEEE, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang, a Chinese medical database, and searched papers published from January 1, 2015, to July 1, 2022, regarding randomized controlled trials on the effectiveness of the telehealth system on patients with chronic diseases. The narrative review summarized the questionnaire indicators presented in the selected studies. In the meta-analysis, Mean Difference (MD) and Standardized Mean Difference (SMD) with a 95% CI were pooled depending on whether the measurements were the same. Subgroup analysis was conducted if the heterogeneity was significant, and the number of studies was sufficient.

RESULTS

Twenty RCTs with 4153 patients were included in the qualitative review. Seventeen different questionnaire-based outcomes were found, within which quality of life, psychological well-being (including depression, anxiety, and fatigue), self-management, self-efficacy, and medical adherence were most frequently used. Ten RCTs with 2095 patients remained in meta-analysis. Compared to usual care, telehealth system can significantly improve the quality of life (SMD 0.44; 95% CI 0.16-0.73; P=.002), whereas no significant effects were found on depression (SMD -0.25; 95% CI -0.72 to 0.23; P=.30), anxiety (SMD -0.10; 95% CI -0.27 to 0.07; P=.71), fatigue (SMD -0.36; 95% CI -1.06 to 0.34; P<.001), and self-care (SMD 0.77; 95% CI -0.28-1.81; P<.001). In the subdomains of quality of life, telehealth statistically significantly improved physical functioning (SMD 0.15; 95% CI 0.02 to 0.29; P=.03), mental functioning (SMD 0.37; 95% CI 0.13-0.60; P=.002), and social functioning (SMD 0.64; 95% CI 0.00-1.29; P=.05), while there was no difference on cognitive functioning (MD 8.31; 95% CI -7.33 to 23.95; P=.30) and role functioning (MD 5.30; 95% CI -7.80 to 18.39; P=.43).

CONCLUSIONS

TCDMS positively affected patients' physical, mental, and social quality of life across multiple chronic diseases. However, no significant difference was found in depression, anxiety, fatigue, and self-care. Subjective questionnaires had the potential ability to evaluate the effectiveness of long-term telehealth monitoring and management. However, further well-designed experiments are warranted to validate TCDMS's effects on subjective outcomes, especially when tested among different chronically ill groups.

Use of Virtual Care for Glycemic Management in People With Types 1 and 2 Diabetes and Diabetes in Pregnancy: A Rapid Review

Our objective in this study was to answer the main research question: In patients with diabetes, does virtual care vs face-to-face care provide different clinical, patient and practitioner experience or quality outcomes? Articles (2012 to 2020) describing interventions using virtual care with the capability for 2-way, individualized interactions compared with usual care were included. Studies involving any patients with diabetes and outcomes of glycated hemoglobin (A1C), quality of care and/or patient or health-care practitioner experience were included. Systematic reviews, randomized controlled studies, quasi-experimental trials, implementation trials, observational studies and qualitative analyses were reviewed. MEDLINE and McMaster Health Evidence databases searched in June 2020 identified 59 articles. Virtual care, in particular telemonitoring, combined with a means of 2-way communications provided improvement in A1C similar or superior to usual care, with the strongest evidence for type 2 diabetes. Virtual care was generally acceptable to patients, who expressed satisfaction with their care. Health-care providers recognized benefits but raised issues of technical support, workflow and compensation.

Exploring the utility and scalability of a telehomecare intervention for patients with chronic kidney disease undergoing peritoneal dialysis-a study protocol

BACKGROUND

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is a pressing global health concern that is placing increased strain on health care resources. CKD patients regularly receive peritoneal dialysis as a common CKD treatment. An emerging technological solution is telehomecare as way to support patients receiving PD in their homes. This study protocol outlines a mixed methods evaluation exploring a telehomecare developed to enhance CKD patients' outcomes and experiences. The study aims to assess the usability, acceptability and scalability of this virtual care application.

METHODS

A realist evaluation using an embedded case study design will be used to understand the usability, acceptability and scalability of a telehomecare application for patients with CKD undergoing PD. The realist evaluation that is further described in this paper is part of a larger evaluation of the eQ Connect™ intervention that includes a randomized, parallel-arm control trial aimed at determining if utilizing eQ Connect improves selected clinical outcomes for PD patients (CONNECT Trial).

DISCUSSION

Potential implications of this study include elucidating which components of the intervention are most effective and under what conditions with a focus on the contextual influences. Collectively, our multi-method design will yield knowledge around how best to implement, sustain and spread the telehomecare application that will be useful to guide the development, implementation and evaluation of future virtual care applications aimed at improving the quality of care outcomes and experiences of patients.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

NCT02670512 . Registered: January 18, 2016.

The Impact of E-diaries and Accelerometers on Young Adults' Perceived and Objectively Assessed Physical Activity

OBJECTIVE

E-diaries and accelerometers promise more objective, real-time measurements of health behavior. However, social-psychological theory suggests that using electronic behavioral monitoring may influence rather than just record physical activity (PA), especially when a device is novel.

DESIGN

Participants (n=146) were randomly assigned to either an accelerometer-only, e-diary-only, accelerometer+e-diary, or a no-technology control group for one week to assess how these technologies influenced PA, both perceived and actual, in young adults.

METHOD

Participants reported their PA, overall and number of discrete exercise sessions (DES) at baseline and follow-up; accelerometers provided daily step counts and e-diaries captured daily reports of PA for the active week of the study.

RESULTS

Average daily steps in the accelerometer-only and accelerometer+e-diary groups did not differ nor did daily reports of PA via e-diary compared to accelerometer+e-diary group, showing that neither technology affected actual PA. ANCOVAS tested group differences in perceived PA; The accelerometer-only group had increased perceived overall PA but not DES compared to no-technology control.

CONCLUSIONS

Accelerometers may increase perceived overall PA, but the tested technologies did not increase DES or actual PA, suggesting that they may be viable unbiased measures of PA.

A randomized wait-list control trial to evaluate the impact of a mobile application to improve self-management of individuals with type 2 diabetes: a study protocol

Background

Management of diabetes through improved glycemic control and risk factor modification can help prevent long-term complications. Much diabetes management is self-management, in which healthcare providers play a supporting role. Well-designed e-Health solutions targeting behavior change can improve a range of measures, including glycemic control, perceived health, and a reduction in hospitalizations.

Methods

The primary objective of this study is to evaluate if a mobile application designed to improve self-management among patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) improves glycemic control compared to usual care. The secondary objectives are to determine the effects on patient experience and health system costs; evaluate how and why the intervention worked as observed; and gain insight into considerations for system-wide scale-up. This pragmatic, randomized, wait-list-control trial will recruit adult participants from three Diabetes Education Programs in Ontario, Canada. The primary outcome is glycemic control (measured by HbA1c). Secondary outcomes include patient-reported outcomes and patient-reported experience measures, health system utilization, and intervention usability. The primary outcome will be analyzed using an ANCOVA, with continuous secondary outcomes analyzed using Poisson regression. Direct observations will be conducted of the implementation and application-specific training sessions provided to each site. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with participants, healthcare providers, organizational leaders, and system stakeholders as part of the embedded process evaluation. Thematic analysis will be applied to the qualitative data in order to describe the relationships between (a) key contextual factors, (b) the mechanisms by which they effect the implementation of the intervention, and (c) the impact on the outcomes of the intervention, according to the principles of Realist Evaluation.

Discussion

The use of mobile health and virtual tools is on the rise in health care, but the evidence of their effectiveness is mixed and their evaluation is often lacking key contextual data. Results from this study will provide much needed information about the clinical and cost-effectiveness of a mobile application to improve diabetes self-management. The process evaluation will provide valuable insight into the contextual factors that influence the application effectiveness, which will inform the potential for adoption and scale.

Trial registration

Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02813343. Registered on 24 June 2016 (retrospectively registered).

Trial Sponsor: Ontario Telemedicine Network

A randomised, controlled trial of the effects of a mobile telehealth intervention on clinical and patient-reported outcomes in people with poorly controlled diabetes

Objective

The objective of this research is to determine the effects of mobile telehealth (MTH) on glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) and other clinical and patient-reported outcomes in insulin-requiring people with diabetes.

Methods

A nine-month randomised, controlled trial compared standard care to standard care supplemented with MTH (self-monitoring, mobile-phone data transmissions, graphical and nurse-initiated feedback, and educational calls). Clinical (HbA1c, blood pressure, daily insulin dose, diabetes outpatient appointments (DOAs)) and questionnaire data (health-related quality of life, depression, anxiety) were collected. Mean group changes over time were compared using hierarchical linear models and Mann-Whitney tests.

Results

Eighty-one participants with a baseline HbA1c of 8.98% ± 1.82 were randomised to the intervention ( n = 45) and standard care ( n = 36). The Group by Time effect revealed MTH did not significantly influence HbA1c ( p = 0.228), but p values were borderline significant for blood pressure ( p = 0.054) and mental-health related quality of life ( p = 0.057). Examination of effect sizes and 95% confidence intervals for mean group differences at nine months supported the existence of a protective effect of MTH on mental health-related quality of life as well as depression. None of the other measured outcomes were found to be affected by the MTH intervention.

Conclusions

Findings from this study must be interpreted with caution given the small sample size, but they do not support the widespread adoption of MTH to achieve clinically significant changes in HbA1c. MTH may, however, have positive effects on blood pressure and protective effects on some aspects of mental health.

Investigating the behavioural effects of a mobile-phone based home telehealth intervention in people with insulin-requiring diabetes: Results of a randomized controlled trial with patient interviews

Introduction

Evidence supporting home telehealth effects on clinical outcomes in diabetes is available, yet mechanisms of action for these improvements remain poorly understood. Behavioural change is one plausible explanation. This study investigated the behavioural effects of a mobile-phone based home telehealth (MTH) intervention in people with diabetes. It was hypothesized that MTH would improve self-efficacy, illness beliefs, and diabetes self-care.

Methods

A randomized controlled trial compared standard care to standard care supplemented with MTH (self-monitoring, data transmission, graphical and nurse-initiated feedback, educational calls). Self-report measures of self-efficacy, illness beliefs, and self-care were repeated at baseline, three months, and nine months. MTH effects were based on the group by time interactions in hierarchical linear models and effect sizes with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Interviews with MTH participants explored the perceived effects of MTH on diabetes self-management.

Results

Eighty-one participants were randomized to the intervention ( n = 45) and standard care ( n = 36). Significant group by time effects were observed for five out of seven self-efficacy subscales. Effect sizes were large, particularly at nine months. Interaction effects for illness beliefs and self-care were non-significant, but effect sizes and confidence intervals suggested MTH may positively affect diet and exercise. In interviews, MTH was associated with increased awareness, motivation, and a greater sense of security. Improved self-monitoring and diet were reported by some participants.

Discussion

MTH empowers people with diabetes to manage their condition and may influence self-care. Future MTH research would benefit from investigating behavioural mechanisms and determining patient profiles predictive of greater behavioural effectiveness.