Can a Mobile App for Diabetes Improve A1C Levels?

At Achievement, we often run research studies about health where our community can choose to participate. We’re also focused on providing you with insights to better understand your personal health. So when we learn exciting things, we think it seems natural to share them back with Achievers!

Welcome to our first research digest! Stay tuned for more.

We’ve heard that type 2 diabetes is an area of health interest for many of you. With type 2 diabetes accounting for 95% of diabetes, there are a lot of ideas out there about how to best manage A1C levels. This is why our research team thought it would be great to partner with a company that makes a diabetes management app and coaching program, called One Drop, to assess in a scientific way how it might benefit people with type 2 diabetes.

What we tested

We enrolled over 100 people with type 2 diabetes in a 12 week long study to understand how using a mobile app and coaching program might affect blood glucose control. This app, called One Drop, helped participants to track info (like blood glucose or diet), set goals, receive data driven insights, and included a coaching program called “Experts” where people could directly message with a certified diabetes coach.

As part of the study, participants mailed in a finger prick test kit to measure their A1C value (a common measure of how well blood glucose was controlled over the past 3 months) at the beginning of the study and again after using the One Drop program for 12 weeks.

What we learned

We saw that the A1C levels for participants in the study decreased by almost 1%, from average of about 10% to 9% during the course of the 12 week study where they used a One Drop’s mobile app and Experts coaching program. These results are exciting because other research (landmark UKPDS trial) showed that a 1.0% decrease in A1C is associated with a reduction of diabetes-related complications and deaths.

These insights also offer a really interesting digital option for people to easily access information and coaching to help effectively manage diabetes — wherever and whenever is most convenient for them.

Thanks to all of the Achievement members who contributed to this important research project! We’re regularly running new studies where Achievement members can contribute — so check out your Offers Page for the latest information!

For more in depth information on this study, check out the study abstract.

The Achievement Team