Mobile Momentary Assessment and Biobehavioral Feedback for Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes: Feasibility and Engagement Patterns.

BACKGROUND: Integration of momentary contextual and psychosocial factors within self-management feedback may provide more specific, engaging, and personalized targets for problem solving.

METHODS: Forty-four youth ages 13-19 with type 1 diabetes (T1D) were provided a Bluetooth meter and completed the 30-day protocol. Participants were randomized to "app + meter" or "meter-only" groups. App + meter participants completed mealtime and bedtime assessment each day. Assessments focused on psychosocial and contextual information relevant for self-management. Graphical feedback integrated self-monitored blood glucose (SMBG), insulin, and Bluetooth-transmitted blood glucose data with the psychosocial and contextual data. App + meter participants completed an interview to identify data patterns.

RESULTS: The median number of momentary assessments per participant was 80.0 (range 32-120) with 2.60 per day. By 2 weeks participants had an average of 40.77 (SD 12.23) assessments. Dose-response analyses indicated that the number of app assessments submitted were significantly related to higher mean daily SMBG (r = -0.44, P < 0.05) and to lower% missed mealtime SMBG (r = -0.47, P < 0.01). Number of feedback viewing sessions was also significantly related to a lower% missed mealtime SMBG (r = -0.44, P < 0.05). Controlling for baseline variables, mixed-effects analyses did not indicate group × time differences in mean daily SMBG. Engagement analyses resulted in three trajectory groups distinguished by assessment frequencies and rates of decline. Engagement group membership was significantly related to gender, mean daily SMBG, and HbA1c values.

CONCLUSIONS: Momentary assessment combined with device data provided a feasible means to provide novel personalized biobehavioral feedback for adolescents with T1D. A 2-week protocol provided sufficient data for self-management problem identification. In addition to feedback, more intensive intervention may need to be integrated for those patients with the lowest self-management at baseline.