Breakthrough for diabetes self-help

The diabetes team at the NST has come a long way since starting the first trials in 2005. In December Eirik Årsand defended his thesis on the diabetes diary, which can simplify everyday life for people with diabetes. Photo: Jan Fredrik Frantzen, NST.

Together with the other researchers and the system developers in the diabetes team at the Norwegian Centre for Integrated Care and Telemedicine (NST), Årsand has spent the past four years developing this system in his PhD project.

Strong user loyalty to the system

"It would not been possible to develop this tool without involving people with diabetes over a period as long as two years," says Årsand, and adds that as far as he knows, there are no other equivalent projects that have included users to the extent that this project has.

The trials of the system that the users have helped to develop actually lasted half a year, but all the users were so pleased with it that they are still using the system nearly one and a half years after they received the equipment.

The mobile phone is at the heart of the whole system. The menus are simple and it is easy to enter diet details on the phone. Automatic wireless transmission of data from the step counter and the blood glucose meter gives users a convenient way to track the development of their health. Photo: Jan Fredrik Frantzen, NST.

Wireless and automatic

Today, we have a mobile phone with us almost wherever we are – and this is the principle that inspired the system. In addition, telephones are becoming more like computers that you can use to phone people. This creates new opportunities.

"The blood glucose meter transmits the blood values wirelessly to the telephone, and so does the step counter that we developed two years ago. Dietary information is also easy for the user to enter. And the tool functions as a practical aid in everyday life," he adds.

All the values are collected and stored in the phone, and you can keep track of the trend in your blood glucose, how active you have been, and how successful you have been in maintaining healthy eating habits.

This feedback enables you to monitor and change both your diet and your activity level on the basis of your blood sugar values. The best-case result is a stable and healthy blood glucose level, which in turn reduces the risk of complications resulting from the illness.

Icelander Bjørgvin Hrafrsson, living in Norway for the past 25 years, was diagnosed with diabetes in 2003. “The problem is to stay focused, in order to prevent the blood sugar from spinning out of control. The system helps me to keep track of my diet and physical activity, and I can see how it affects my glucose levels,” he says. Photo: Jan Fredrik Frantzen, NST.

Ready for large-scale testing in EU project

Testing so far has involved only 12 users, which is not enough to draw any clear conclusions about the medical effect of using the tool. However, the EU project "Renewing Health" – which starts in February – will give 200 people the opportunity to use the system...

This will provide a much better basis for finding out whether the "Few Touch" application does in fact help to improve eating habits, physical activity, and blood glucose values. And, in turn, the health of its users.

Comments from the 12 testers indicate that the equipment is easy to use, and that several of the participants have changed their medication, physical activity, and diet after starting to use the system.  

The PhD research was conducted at the University of Tromsø and the NST. The project was funded by the Committee for Telemedicine Research Programme at the Northern Norway Regional Health Authority and Tromsø Telemedicine Laboratory (TTL).

Contact information

Eirik Årsand, mobile telephone (+47) 992 43 592 and email Eirik.Arsand@telemed.no

Scientific reference

Title and data for the PhD thesis: "The Few Touch Digital Diabetes Diary. User-Involved Design of Mobile Self-Help Tools for People with Diabetes", University of Tromsø, Faculty of Science, July 2009.