Background: Adolescence is associated with suboptimal diabetes control, with average HbA1C levels of 9.0%. Adolescents are highly engaged in mobile technology; over half report sending text messages at least daily. Text messaging (TM) is most commonly used technology in adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Pilot studies have demonstrated TM to be a useful tool in diabetes education. MyDiaText™ is a website and TM platform created to support behavior change in adolescents with T1DM. Enrollment in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) using MyDiaText™ began in August 2018.

Objective: To report the baseline characteristics, self-care behaviors, and engagement in a TM intervention for T1D education and support in a diverse population.

Methods: Subjects were recruited from the CHOP Diabetes Center. Enrollment criteria for the trial included: 12-18 years, >1 year from diagnosis and point-of-care HbA1C > 8%. Adolescents selected an AADE7™ Self-Care Behavior (SCB) goal on which to focus. Those in the intervention group received daily educational and motivational text messages. Self-Care Inventory (SCI), 14 questions scored 1-5, and HbA1C were obtained at baseline. Engagement index, defined as number of responses/total messages received, was calculated by the application.

Results: There were 107 subjects (average age = 15.8 years {45.8% M, 52.3% F, 1.9% other; 60 (56.1%) W, 33 (30.8%) B, 10 (9.3%) mixed race and 4 (3.7%) other; 11 (10.2%) identified as Hispanic}) enrolled. “Monitoring” was most common SCB selected, 45 subjects (42.4%). Mean (range) baseline HbA1C was 10.0% (8.0-14.1). Mean baseline SCI score was 3.36 (1.07-5.0). Engagement was 60% or greater for 74% of subjects in treatment arm.

Conclusions: A diverse population of adolescents with T1D and suboptimal control preferred text messaging support for blood glucose monitoring and demonstrated high engagement in MyDiaText™. Further analyses will determine the efficacy of MyDiaText™ on diabetes outcomes.

Disclosure

T. Kaushal: None. L.E. Katz: None. M.E. Marowitz: None. J. Joseph: None. D.P. Ritter: None. T.H. Lipman: None.

Funding

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (2T32DK063688-11-12 to L.E.K.)

© 2019 by the American Diabetes Association.
2019
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