medwireNews: Findings from a randomized controlled trial published in Diabetes Care suggest that for people with type 2 diabetes, the delivery of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) via a digital therapeutic app, on top of standard of care, may reduce glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c).
The study included 669 adults (58% White, 28% Black, 16% Latino) aged an average of 58 years with type 2 diabetes and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels of 7.0 to less than 11.0% (53 to <97 mmol/mol) who were randomly assigned to receive access to a digital therapeutic app delivering CBT (BT-001) or a control app, both on top of standard care.
The researchers observed that people in the BT-001 group had significantly lower HbA1c than those in the control group after 90 days of using the app. In the BT-001 arm, HbA1c decreased by 0.28% from 8.2% (66 mmol/mol) at baseline, compared with an increase of 0.11% from 8.1% (65 mmol/mol) in the control group. This resulted in a between-group difference of 0.39% at day 90.
“The magnitude of HbA1c reduction in the BT-001 group increased in parallel with exposure to the therapy, as indicated by the number of modules completed,” write Judith Hsia (CPC Clinical Research, Aurora, Colorado, USA) and co-authors. They say that this “supports the importance of engagement, consistent with in-person CBT and behavioral interventions in general.”
There were no adverse events attributed to the app use and no adverse device effects were observed.
“Delivery of a cognitive behavioral intervention via smartphone app can provide a scalable option for improving glycemic control,” concludes the team.
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