TH Cologne publishes study on technical aids for type 1 diabetics

23.03.2023 16:40

Around 370,000 people in Germany suffer from type 1 diabetes - but so far little is known about their living situation and how they deal with the disease. Prof. Dr. Matthias Fank from the Institute for Information Science at the TH Cologne has now examined the use of technical aids and the wishes of those affected in a study with 1,025 participants.

“Type 1 diabetics have extensive technical options available to manage the disease and they also use them. 94 percent of those surveyed use a device for continuous tissue glucose monitoring (CGM), 71 percent use a blood glucose monitor and 60 percent use an insulin pump. The parallel use of four apps for the various aspects of diabetes management is also not uncommon,” explains Fank.

Many sufferers actually want to spend as little time as possible managing their diabetes via the app - 30 percent agree with this statement. “However, diabetes is a complex disease that requires patients to make many decisions: How many carbohydrates are in my food? Do I do sports? How much insulin is left in my body? Do I have to inject? “It’s no wonder that so many apps are used and only around nine percent of those surveyed forego this type of support,” says Fank.

Dissatisfaction with existing offers

Despite the widespread use of apps, there is great dissatisfaction with the existing offering: only two percent of those surveyed believe that an optimal app already exists. What is desired is an offer that integrates blood sugar, carbohydrates, insulin, weight and exercise (65 percent agree with this), has customizable display and evaluation (63 percent), gives tips and advice based on your own values (57 percent) and is manufacturer-independent (54 percent).

“An app that correlates as many diabetes-relevant factors as possible and, for example, links the course of the glucose value in an overview with the meals eaten and the sporting activities - I can draw completely different conclusions from this than if I were to do so based on incompatible apps “We have to think about it,” says Fank. The desire for a manufacturer-independent app is primarily justified by the difficulties when changing providers. “Every manufacturer is in control of the data stored in their systems. Patients cannot accept these in electronic form if they change providers. Anyone who wants to switch will lose all information about the course of the disease, which may have been accumulated over years. “It would be desirable for the legislature to put data sovereignty back in the hands of the patients,” says Fank.

Results form the basis for follow-up investigations

Fank sees the fact that more than 1,000 people took part in the survey in a short space of time as a sign of the great willingness of those affected to deal with their illness. “We should use this to focus on patients in further studies and, for example, investigate how new technologies such as the CGM system or the insulin pump are used in everyday life,” says Fank.

The study “Information behavior of people with type 1 diabetes in Germany” was conducted by Prof. Dr. Matthias Fank, who is affected by the disease himself, collected the data as part of a research sabbatical. To do this, he first conducted eight qualitative expert interviews with patients and a diabetes doctor. On this basis, an online questionnaire with 25 questions was created, which a total of 1,025 people with type 1 diabetes filled out completely. Participation was advertised on public platforms. This is therefore a self-selection sample that cannot be described as representative.