Purpose: To examine scientific evidence on the effectiveness of mobile phone technology in Diabetes Mellitus (DM) care management. Methods: A systematic review was conducted through literature searches from three electronic databases and was restricted to English-language articles published between January 2002 and March 2012. Studies that used mobile phone intervention and reported changes in diet, physical activity, and blood glucose and /or glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels were retrieved. A meta-analysis was conducted for studies with HbA1c measures.Results: More than 50 articles were screened. Of them, 15 met the review criteria. Of the 15, study sample sizes ranged from 12 to 130 participants aged 8 to 70 years old. Duration of intervention ranged from 1 to 12 months. Overall, significant improvements were observed in blood glucose and/or HbA1c concentration, adherence to medication, healthy lifestyle, and self-efficacy. Twelve of 15 trials, which had serum HbA1c measures, showed an average 0.39% (95%CI: -0.067, -0.721) HbA1c reduction from studies with pre-to post-tests (p=0.018).
Conclusion:Findings from the study provide the evidence that health reminders, disease monitoring and management, and education through mobile phone technology may significantly help improve glycaemic control patients with DM.