BACKGROUND
Diabetes is a serious chronic disease, and many studies show that telehealth management can help diabetes patients control blood glucose well. Telehealth management is not limited by distance, which gives it great potential.
OBJECTIVE
Our research is designed to clarify the impact of internet-based health management on blood glucose control in diabetes patients and to understand the related factors of blood glucose control in order to develop more effective health management.
METHODS
In five provinces of northwest China, our study selected 56542 adult participants without cognitive illness or mental disorder and conducted a 4-year long-term telehealth management. We conducted health examinations and questionnaires on participants to collect clinical parameters and the change in health-related behaviors, in order to figure out the effectiveness of internet health management. And the new-onset patients with diabetes were used to analyze the factors related to blood glucose control. All data were statistically analyzed using SPSS.
RESULTS
After 4 years of internet health management, blood glucose of eligible participants and new-onset patients decreased significantly. The improvement in many health-related behaviors was also significant. The analysis of new-onset diabetes patients showed that compliance with health management guidance could effectively help control blood glucose. Among those relevant factors, control of smoking, suitable intake of fruit and beans were considered significantly effective in binary logistic regression model analysis.
CONCLUSIONS
The internet-based health management has shown a significant impact on the control of diabetes, and the control of smoking, sedentary time, intake of fruits and beans is considered significantly effective.