Smartphone Apps to Help Self-Manage Diabetes Often Don't Measure Up

Increasingly, patients with diabetes use smartphone applications (apps) to assist with self-management, but are these apps effective? To evaluate available apps (free or purchased) purported to assist with diabetes self-management, investigators searched for those related to diabetes management; inclusion criteria focused on data capture, decision support such as reminders and alerts, and patient education.

Three hundred seventy-one apps met inclusion criteria. Blood glucose measurements could be recorded in all apps, goal setting was available in about a third, and reminders to measure blood glucose were present in about a quarter. Alerts for hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia were available in about 58% of apps; of these, about a third displaye…