Identification of type 2 diabetes management mobile app features and engagement strategies: Modified delphi approach

Abstract

Background: Diabetes is a significant public health issue. Saudi Arabia has the highest prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in the Arab world. Currently, it affects 31.6% of the general population, and the prevalence of T2DM is predicted to rise to 45.36% by 2030. Mobile health (mHealth) offers improved and cost-effective care to people with T2DM. However, the efficiency of engagement strategies and features of this technology need to be reviewed and standardized according to stakeholder and expert perspectives. Objective: The main objective of this study was to identify the most agreed-upon features for T2DM self-management mobile apps; the secondary objective was to identify the most agreed-upon strategies that prompt users to use these apps. Methods: In this study, a 4-round modified Delphi method was applied by experts in the domain of diabetes care. Results: In total, 11 experts with a mean age of 47.09 years (SD 11.70) consented to participate in the study. Overall, 36 app features were generated. The group of experts displayed weak agreement in their ranking of intervention components (Kendall W=0.275; P