Efficacy of Save Medical Corporation (SMC)-01, a Smartphone App Designed to Support Type 2 Diabetes Self-Management Based on Established Guidelines: Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Lifestyle modifications are a key part of type 2 diabetes mellitus treatment. Many patients find long-term self-management difficult, and mobile apps could be a solution. In 2010, in the United States, a mobile app was approved as an official medical device. Similar apps have entered the Japanese market but are yet to be classified as medical devices.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of Save Medical Corporation (SMC)-01, a mobile app for the support of lifestyle modifications among Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Methods: This was a 24-week multi-institutional, prospective randomized controlled trial. The intervention group received SMC-01, an app with functions allowing patients to record data and receive personalized feedback to encourage a healthier lifestyle. The control group used paper journals for diabetes self-management. The primary outcome was the between-group difference in change in hemoglobin A_1c from baseline to week 12.

Results: The change in hemoglobin A_1c from baseline to week 12 was -0.05% (95% CI -0.14% to 0.04%) in the intervention group and 0.06% (95% CI -0.04% to 0.15%) in the control group. The between-group difference in change was -0.11% (95% CI -0.24% to 0.03%; P=.11).

Conclusions: There was no statistically significant change in glycemic control. The lack of change could be due to SMC-01 insufficiently inducing behavior change, absence of screening for patients who have high intention to change their lifestyle, low effective usage of SMC-01 due to design issues, or problems with the SMC-01 intervention. Future efforts should focus on these issues in the early phase of developing interventions.

Trial registration: Japan Registry of Clinical Trials jRCT2032200033; https://jrct.niph.go.jp/latest-detail/jRCT2032200033.