Study: One Drop|Mobile diabetes management app helps reduce A1C
NEW YORK — One Drop on Friday announced the results of a retrospective study of people with diabetes (type 1 and type 2) using the One Drop | Mobile diabetes management app, demonstrating a 1.1% to 1.3% absolute reduction in A1C in just four months.
The results were published Thursday in JMIR Diabetes.
"We used real-world data to produce timely and relevant results," stated Chandra Osborn, VP health and behavioral informatics at One Drop. "More often than not, relevance and the gold standard randomized controlled trial are at odds. We didn't perform a RCT on outdated technology. We studied current technology and recent data, and found A1c improved among people using the One Drop app," she said. "We also linked that improvement to tracking self-care with the app. From study to publication in less than 3 months is unheard of. That's impossible to do with a RCT. When it comes to technology, relevance and speed are everything."
"Prior to this study, the scientific literature told us that diabetes mobile apps could potentially improve A1c by -0.45%," said Jeff Dachis, CEO One Drop. "I'm thrilled to present evidence that says otherwise. We are seeing dramatic improvements in A1c — often achieved with drugs, but rarely, if ever, seen with digital therapeutics and self-care interventions. And, in this case, we're doing it all at scale for less than a fraction of the cost of current standards of care: free."
"With growing numbers of people developing diabetes and increasing options to treat the disease, self-management has become much more complex," commented David Marrero, director of the Diabetes Translational Research Center at Indiana University School of Medicine and former president of the American Diabetes Association's Healthcare and Education. "The One Drop | Mobile app illuminates the potential for mobile technology to assist persons with diabetes in both tracking the varied elements of their therapy and making more informed self-management decisions. Too many apps promise to improve health, but often don't deliver. It's great to see an app that finally does."
The One Drop | Mobile app for iOS and Android is available for free in the App Store or Google Play Store. With One Drop | Mobile, users can manually and passively (via Apple HealthKit, Google Fit and the One Drop | Chrome blood glucose meter) store, track and share data. Users can schedule medication reminders, view statistics, set goals, track A1c and weight, get data-driven insights, provide and receive encouragement from other users, and get tips and advice to assist with diabetes management.