Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 May;2(3):509-17.
doi: 10.1177/193229680800200324.

Diabetes self-management care via cell phone: a systematic review

Santosh Krishna  1 , Suzanne Austin Boren
Affiliations

Diabetes self-management care via cell phone: a systematic review

Santosh Krishna et al. J Diabetes Sci Technol. 2008 May.

Abstract

Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate the evidence on the impact of cell phone interventions for persons with diabetes and/or obesity in improving health outcomes and/or processes of care for persons with diabetes and/or obesity.

Methods: We searched Medline (1966-2007) and reviewed reference lists from included studies and relevant reviews to identify additional studies. We extracted descriptions of the study design, sample size, patient age, duration of study, technology, educational content and delivery environment, intervention and control groups, process and outcome measures, and statistical significance.

Results: In this review, we included 20 articles, representing 18 studies, evaluating the use of a cell phone for health information for persons with diabetes or obesity. Thirteen of 18 studies measured health outcomes and the remaining 5 studies evaluated processes of care. Outcomes were grouped into learning, behavior change, clinical improvement, and improved health status. Nine out of 10 studies that measured hemoglobin A1c reported significant improvement among those receiving education and care support. Cell phone and text message interventions increased patient-provider and parent-child communication and satisfaction with care.

Conclusions: Providing care and support with cell phones and text message interventions can improve clinically relevant diabetes-related health outcomes by increasing knowledge and self-efficacy to carry out self-management behaviors.

Keywords: SMS; cellular phone; diabetes mellitus; outcomes of care; process of care randomized controlled trials; text messaging; wireless.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Institute of Medicine, Committee on Quality of Health Care in America. Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 2001. Crossing the quality chasm: a new health system for the 21st century.
    1. Wagner EH, Austin B, Von Korff M. Improving outcomes in chronic illness. Manag Care Q. 1996;4(2):12–25. - PubMed
    1. Krishna S, Balas EA, Boren SA, Maglaveras N. Patient acceptance of educational voice messages: a review of controlled clinical studies. Methods Inf Med. 2002;41(5):360–369. - PubMed
    1. Piette JD, Weinberger M, McPhee SJ, Mah CA, Kraemer FB, Crapo LM. Do automated calls with nurse follow-up improve self-care and glycemic control among vulnerable patients with diabetes? Am J Med. 2000;108(1):20–27. - PubMed
    1. Piette JD, Weinberger M, Kraemer FB, McPhee SJ. Impact of automated calls with nurse follow-up on diabetes treatment outcomes in a Department Of Veterans Affairs Health Care System: a randomized controiied trial. Diabetes Care. 2001;24(2):202–208. - PubMed