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
. 2021 Feb 16;6(1):e23687.
doi: 10.2196/23687.

Application of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Evidence Standards Framework for Digital Health Technologies in Assessing Mobile-Delivered Technologies for the Self-Management of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Scoping Review

Jessica R Forsyth  1 , Hannah Chase  1 , Nia W Roberts  2 , Laura C Armitage  3 , Andrew J Farmer  3
Affiliations

Application of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Evidence Standards Framework for Digital Health Technologies in Assessing Mobile-Delivered Technologies for the Self-Management of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Scoping Review

Jessica R Forsyth et al. JMIR Diabetes. .

Abstract

Background: There is a growing role of digital health technologies (DHTs) in the management of chronic health conditions, specifically type 2 diabetes. It is increasingly important that health technologies meet the evidence standards for health care settings. In 2019, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published the NICE Evidence Standards Framework for DHTs. This provides guidance for evaluating the effectiveness and economic value of DHTs in health care settings in the United Kingdom.

Objective: The aim of this study is to assess whether scientific articles on DHTs for the self-management of type 2 diabetes mellitus report the evidence suggested for implementation in clinical practice, as described in the NICE Evidence Standards Framework for DHTs.

Methods: We performed a scoping review of published articles and searched 5 databases to identify systematic reviews and primary studies of mobile device-delivered DHTs that provide self-management support for adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The evidence reported within articles was assessed against standards described in the NICE framework.

Results: The database search yielded 715 systematic reviews, of which, 45 were relevant and together included 59 eligible primary studies. Within these, there were 39 unique technologies. Using the NICE framework, 13 technologies met best practice standards, 3 met minimum standards only, and 23 technologies did not meet minimum standards.

Conclusions: On the assessment of peer-reviewed publications, over half of the identified DHTs did not appear to meet the minimum evidence standards recommended by the NICE framework. The most common reasons for studies of DHTs not meeting these evidence standards included the absence of a comparator group, no previous justification of sample size, no measurable improvement in condition-related outcomes, and a lack of statistical data analysis. This report provides information that will enable researchers and digital health developers to address these limitations when designing, delivering, and reporting digital health technology research in the future.

Keywords: guidelines; health technology; mobile applications; mobile health; self-management; type 2 diabetes.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: AF is Program Director of the NIHR Health Technology Assessment Programme.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram showing the inclusion and exclusion of systematic reviews and primary studies to yield eligible technologies.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Digitally-enabled primary and outpatient care will go mainstream across the NHS Internet. NHS Long Term Plan. -. [2021-01-16]. https://www.longtermplan.nhs.uk/online-version/chapter-1-a-new-service-m...
    1. Health intervention and technology assessment in support of universal health coverage internet. World Health Assembly Resolution. 2014. [2021-01-16]. https://www.who.int/medical_devices/assessment/resolutionsearo_searc66r4....
    1. What is a health technology? World Health Organization. 2015. [2021-01-16]. https://www.who.int/health-technology-assessment/about/healthtechnology/en/
    1. Nice evidence standards framework for digital health technologies. NICE. 2019. [2021-01-16]. https://www.nice.org.uk/Media/Default/About/what-we-do/our-programmes/ev.... - PMC - PubMed
    1. Rho MJ, Kim HS, Chung K, Choi IY. Factors influencing the acceptance of telemedicine for diabetes management. Cluster Comput. 2014 Mar 12;18(1):321–31. doi: 10.1007/s10586-014-0356-1. - DOI

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources