In brief
In a three-month study with four Taiwanese clinics and 95 patients with type 2 diabetes, using the Health2Sync app with a Fitbit Inspire HR lowered average HbA1c by 0.33%, average fasting blood glucose by 10.92 mg/dL and average LDL cholesterol by 11.55 mg/dL, with weight loss of up to 2 kg.
Wearable device brand Fitbit (NYSE: FIT) and Health2Sync, Asia's largest diabetes management platform [1], recently jointly released the results of a clinical study conducted with four diabetes-focused clinics in Taiwan. The results confirm that the Health2Sync app combined with Fitbit smart wearable devices [2] can effectively help with diabetes control.
Four clinics and 95 patients took part, confirming that wearable devices combined with an app help control diabetes
According to the records of the patients who took part in the study, their HbA1c, fasting blood glucose and LDL cholesterol all improved significantly by the end of the study. The frequency with which patients measured their blood glucose also increased. The study validates the value of integrating Fitbit smart wearable devices into diabetes care.
The clinical study results are as follows:
- Average HbA1c fell by 0.33%, and among patients who did at least 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise per week, the average HbA1c reduction reached 0.66%
- Average fasting blood glucose fell by 10.92 mg/dL
- Average LDL cholesterol fell by 11.55 mg/dL
- Participants' weight loss reached up to 2 kg
- Participants' frequency of moderate-to-vigorous exercise rose to as high as 7.03 times per week
The study lasted three months and ended in July 2020. The participating clinics were Yu Nengjun Clinic, Daya Chang An Clinic, Yier Clinic and Dajun Clinic, and a total of 95 patients with type 2 diabetes took part voluntarily, with physicians tracking their progress and changes in their lifestyle habits. Before the clinical study began, medical staff at all four clinics helped complete patients' health indicator measurements and recorded all data from before the study started. From the start of the study until its end, patients were also required to carry out weekly self-monitoring of blood glucose.
During the study, every patient received a Fitbit Inspire HR and agreed to link it with the Health2Sync app. Each patient's exercise data is integrated into the Health2Sync app, and medical staff then use the Health2Sync cloud care platform to view the patient's other health values in the app, such as HbA1c, fasting blood glucose and cholesterol levels, so they can keep track of the patient's health at any time and, when necessary, provide health education advice remotely.
Medical staff can also use this to help track patients' conditions and control blood glucose more effectively
Dr. Lyu Guoliang, director of Daya Chang An Clinic, said: “The clinical study results surprised both medical staff and patients. Among the patients from our clinic who took part in the programme, in just three months the average weight dropped by a little over 2 kg and average fasting blood glucose also fell by 11.10 mg/dL, greatly improving the patients' health [3].”
Dr. Yu Nengjun, director of Yu Nengjun Clinic, said: “Patients with type 2 diabetes can achieve good and stable blood glucose control through guidance on and adjustment of lifestyle habits such as exercise, medication and diet. By integrating the Fitbit fitness band with Health2Sync, medical staff can track the moderate-intensity exercise patients do and, together with the blood glucose data on the platform, can more easily provide exercise health education, which makes blood glucose control more effective for patients.”
App exercise reminders effectively increase the amount of exercise among people with diabetes
Diabetes is a chronic disease that, if left uncontrolled, can lead to complications such as blindness, kidney failure, heart disease, stroke and lower-limb amputation [4]. In Taiwan, diabetes ranks second only to cancer as the leading cause of death among non-communicable diseases. It increases personal and national health insurance spending and lowers work productivity, and has become a huge burden on the national economy.
Diabetes management requires adjusting lifestyle habits such as exercise, medication and diet. The integration of the Health2Sync app with Fitbit smart wearable devices encourages patients to build better lifestyle habits and thereby improve their health. The Health2Sync app sends reminders every week to encourage patients to exercise regularly, and the results also show that patients' frequency of moderate-to-vigorous exercise rose to 7.03 times per week. As patients exercised more, their health improved markedly.
Deng Juyi, CEO of Health2Sync, said: “We are very excited to see such positive results in this study. Fitbit's continued innovation in smart wearable devices and health management solutions plays an important role in both preventing and controlling diabetes. We also look forward to expanding our cooperation with Fitbit in the future.”
Make good use of technology tools to build healthy lifestyle habits and control the condition
Steve Morley, Fitbit's Vice President of International Health Solutions and General Manager for Asia Pacific, said: “In this clinical study we saw patients' behaviour change, which reinforces our belief that Fitbit can strengthen users' intrinsic motivation and help them build healthier lifestyle habits. For patients with type 2 diabetes, healthy daily habits have a considerable impact on how stable their condition is. With Fitbit combined with the Health2Sync app and the Health2Sync cloud care platform, both patients and medical staff can easily track key indicators, and this innovative solution has been shown to make managing type 2 diabetes more convenient.”
Since September last year, Fitbit and Health2Sync have worked together. With user authorisation, Fitbit health, sleep and exercise data is integrated into the Health2Sync app to help 520,000 Health2Sync app users in Japan and Taiwan effectively manage their condition. The integration lets Health2Sync app users who have a Fitbit account easily see in the app the heart rate, sleep and exercise that Fitbit tracks in real time, and compare them at any time with the blood glucose values the patient has entered in the Health2Sync app to confirm whether each indicator falls within a healthy range [6].
Source : https://bit.ly/3qqBmds