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NCT Number: NCT00605839

Mobile Communication Technology for Adolescents With Diabetes

Among those with type I diabetes, adolescents can be among the worst at achieving glycemic control. Behaviors normal in adolescent development (e.g., developing independence, rejecting parental norms in favor of peers) can be at odds with the demands of effective diabetes self-management. Modifying the family and patient interaction should be a crucial component to improving the ability of an adolescent to manage his or her diabetes.

Mobile technology is becoming more popular in medicine, and adolescents, as a group are more inclined to accept technology as an adjunct to care. Mobile technology that links adolescents to health providers could help them to work through complex information that must be processed to make good decisions. Since this "assistance" comes from health professionals, it should help relax parents somewhat, thus reducing problems associated with parental hypervigilance and manipulation of the regimen to avoid problems of hypoglycemia. Parental-child conflicts may therefore be reduced by using cell phone glucose monitoring technology that directly reports self-blood glucose monitoring data to providers and creates a communication link to discuss therapeutic options.

This study investigates whether the use of mobile technology, in the form of a cell phone glucose monitoring system, will help reduce the need for parents to assert behavioral control, which can negatively impact adolescent diabetes self-management. The study will also determine whether adolescents report improved quality of life, demonstrate competence in diabetes management, and are able to achieve better control of their diabetes.

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Key information

Conditions

Type 1 Diabetes Autoimmune Diseases Diabetes Mellitus Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 Endocrine System Diseases Glucose Metabolism Disorders Immune System Diseases Metabolic Diseases Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases

Age range

14 year–18 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Riley Hospital Diabetes Clinics

Indianapolis, Indiana, 46202, United States

About this study

Among patients with type I diabetes, adolescents struggle the most with self-management, which often results in poor glycemic control. Optimizing parent-patient interaction is crucial to improving self-management. Mobile technology with integrated glucose monitoring capability that links adolescents to providers may reduce parental hypervigilance and assist them to better understand self-management. .

This study will investigate a novel cell phone glucose monitoring system (CPGM) with the following specific aims:

  • To establish feasibility of a CPGM system as a component of an adolescent diabetes management program.
  • To determine if the technology will improve a) quality of parent-child relationship, b) patient quality of life, c) competence in diabetes management, and d) metabolic control.
  • To gather preliminary data for development of future intervention studies.

120 adolescents with type I diabetes will be randomly assigned to either an experimental or control group. Experimental subjects will use the CPGM which will transmit all blood glucose data to a host computer. A nurse practitioner in the pediatric endocrinology clinic will determine need for telephone contacts based on evaluation of transmitted data. Subjects might be telephoned to discuss possible regimen adjustments, need for clinic visits, or referrals to additional services. Subjects will also be able to initiate contact with the project nurse. Control subjects will continue to receive standard care. .

This study will assess the effect of the intervention in the four primary domains stated in the specific aims. These domains will be measured at baseline, three months, and six months.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Adolescent with thpe 1 diabetes
  • Adolescents in the study must intend to remain in the care of participating clinics for the extent of the study
  • Adolescents in the study must be literate in English.

Exclusion criteria

  • Only one patient per family can participate
  • Patients who participated in preliminary studies related to the development of the cell phone technology will be excluded.

Treatment and study plan

GlucoPak

Device

We will be giving participants Glucopak devices and monitoring them closely over the 6 month period.

Cell Phone

Device

We will provide cell phones and access to the clinic to facilitate communications

Usual Care

Other

This intervention was usual care, without either device.

Primary outcomes

  1. Quality of Parent-child Relationship

    Time frame: Change from baseline to 6 months. Please see above for a description of how the change score should be interpreted.

    The Cornell Parent Behavior Description Scale was used to measure the antecedents and consequences of children's perceptions of the behavior of their parents towards them. Each of 14 subscales is scored from 0-10. The potential range of the total score is therefore 0 (fewest behaviors) to 140 (most behaviors). We used the total score, which is equivalent to the sums of the subscales, and calculated the change from baseline to 6 months. The range of the change is given as a 95% CI. A change of zero would indicate no change. A positive number is a worsening , and a negative number indicates an improvement.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Indiana University

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Adapting Mobile Communication Technology to Improve the Management of Adolescents With Diabetes

Important dates

Study start
2008
Primary completion
2008
Study completion
2008
First posted
Jan 31, 2008
Registry last updated
Oct 11, 2017

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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