Patients’ Experience of New Technologies and Digitalization in Diabetes Care in Germany

Abstract

Background: Little is little known about how people with diabetes experience advancing digitization and new technologies in diabetes. Research question: What are the attitudes of people with diabetes (or, in the case of children with diabetes, their parents) toward digitization and advancing technology in diabetology? What significant advantages and disadvantages do they see, and how do they assess current developments of digitization in diabetology (eg, hybrid closed-loop systems, do-It-Yourself (DIY) closed-loop systems, data protection, and data donation)? Material and method: 3,427 people with diabetes (47.7% female, 65.6% type 1 diabetes (T1D), 25.5% type 2 diabetes (T2D), 8.1% parents of children with diabetes; 0.8% other type of diabetes, age 49.2 ± 19.3 years) were interviewed with an online survey. Results: Overall, survey participants had a very positive attitude toward digitization (82.6%) and considered the potential for optimizing diabetology through digitization to be very high (78.8%). The highest rated advantages of digitization were “greater personal responsibility and self-determination in therapy” (80.0%), “better quality of treatment” (80.0%), and “better communication with the doctor/diabetes team” (77.3%), while the highest rated disadvantages were the “error-proneness of digital applications” (35.9%), the “risk of misuse of patient data” (32.3%) and the “fear that digitization will replace the doctor in many cases” (31.1%). The possibility of evaluating and analyzing glucose data by means of software, and AID systems, and the possibility of improving the interoperability of the various applications are currently rated as the most significant topics. Conclusions: The vast majority of people with diabetes are very positive about new technologies in diabetology and expect that it will improve and simplify their diabetes therapy and reduce the burdens associated with diabetes. In particular, people with type 1 diabetes have high expectations for AID systems, viewing them as a kind of “technical cure” for their diabetes.

Behind the Curtain: Patients' Perceptions, Treatment Expectations and Behavior in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Self-management

“…These findings are similar to the results of previous studies, which outlined that one of the conditions for openness to new technologies is the ease of use and unobtrusive application in social spaces. 19,35,50 In the present study, some also complained that the current technological devices for blood glucose monitoring and the needle and pen used for insulin delivery are not environmentally friendly. This aspect should also be considered when developing new insulin delivery devices.…”

“…These diabetes-specific technologies include the continuous glucose monitoring systems, the automated insulin administration systems, devices, mobile applications, online resources, and telemedicine. 34 Kulzer et al 35 highlighted that diabetes technologies could support therapy in DM while understanding patients' attitudes, needs and opinions related to these technologies could help to develop and adapt them to patients. Moreover, new technologies could facilitate diabetes self-management and insulin therapy among diabetes patients.…”

“…34 Diabetes technology also could help to reduce diabetes distress and improve treatment satisfaction among patients, 34 although in most cases, positive changes in glycemic control and other healthrelated diabetes outcomes are relatively marginal. 35 Another study found that patients with T2DM interact with modern diabetes technologies less frequently, and therefore, do not experience their benefits. 35…”

“…35 Another study found that patients with T2DM interact with modern diabetes technologies less frequently, and therefore, do not experience their benefits. 35…”