Effectiveness of Lilly Connected Care Program (LCCP) app-based diabetes education for patients with type 2 diabetes treated with insulin: Retrospective real-world study

Abstract

Background: Diabetes poses heavy economic and social burdens worldwide. Mobile apps show great potential for diabetes self-management education. However, there is limited evidence for the effectiveness of providing general diabetes education through mobile apps. Objective: The aim of this study was to clarify the effectiveness of Lilly Connected Care Program (LCCP) app-based diabetes education for glycemic control. Methods: This retrospective cohort study included patients with diabetes recruited to the LCCP platform from September 1, 2018, to May 31, 2019. Each patient was followed for 12 weeks. According to the number of diabetes education courses they had completed, the patients were divided into the following three groups: group A (0-4 courses), group B (5-29 courses), and group C (≥30 courses). The main outcomes were the change in blood glucose at the 12th week compared with baseline and the differences in blood glucose at the 12th week among the three groups. The associations of the number of diabetes education courses completed with the average blood glucose and frequency of self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) at the 12th week were assessed by multivariate linear regression analyses controlling for other confounding covariates. Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses were used to assess factors influencing patients' engagement in the diabetes education courses. Results: A total of 5011 participants were enrolled. Their mean fasting blood glucose (FBG) and postprandial blood glucose (PBG) were significantly lower at the 12th week than at baseline (FBG, 7.46 [standard deviation (SD) 1.95] vs 7.79 [SD 2.18] mmol/L, P