Apps as a health education tool for people with diabetes mellitus: what is available in Portuguese?

Abstract

Health applications for mobile devices are an important tool for a health education to support the treatment of different diseases, such as diabetes mellitus (DM). In this sense, this research analyzes the functionalities of existing applications in Portuguese aimed at helping people with DM. A systematic search was performed to identify the applications by the descriptors "Diabetes control,” “Diabetes,” “Glucose,” and “Insulin” in Android and iOS operating systems. A total of 576 applications were found, but only 63 (10.9%) met the inclusion criteria. According to their functionality, the apps presented the following possibilities of use: 13 are educational; 12 monitor physical activity; 18 contain a food diary; 28 count carbohydrates; 34 monitor insulin; 49 monitor blood glucose; 33 present graphs; 9 warn about the presence of hypo or hyperglycemia; 17 recall blood glucose collection; and 5 present culinary recipes. Functionalities that assist in behavior change and that individualize treatment strategies are still incipient. We suggest the development of auxiliary tools for interaction of applications with their users and the proof of their effectiveness.