A Mobile Health Intervention for Improving Problem-Solving Skills, Emotional Adaptation, and Glycemic Control in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes

Mobile health (mHealth) enables health-care professionals to assist patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) in effective self-management of the disease. Using a quasi-experimental design, we evaluated the effectiveness of a nurse-led mHealth problem-solving program (mHealth-PSP) in enhancing problem-solving skills, improving emotional adaptation, and reducing glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels in patients with T2D. The present study included 83 patients with T2D from two hospitals in northern Taiwan. All diagnoses were made at least 1 year before the study. Eligible patients were divided into an intervention group (n = 41; underwent an mHealth-PSP for 4 months) and a usual care group (n = 42). Self-report surveys and HbA1c measurements were performed at baseline (T0) and 6 (T1), 9 (T2), and 12 (T3) months after the intervention. The intervention group exhibited better problem-solving skills and lower HbA1c levels at T3 than at T0; however, the usual care group exhibited no changes in these parameters. Furthermore, although the intervention group exhibited a slight increase in emotional adaptation scores between T0 and T1, these scores decreased significantly over time. Overall, mHealth-PSP can optimize long-term T2D management, enabling health-care professionals to help patients achieve improved health outcomes.