The role of smartwatch technology in the provision of care for type 1 or 2 diabetes mellitus or gestational diabetes: systematic review
Open accessAbstract
Background: The use of smart technology in the management of all forms of diabetes mellitus has grown significantly in the past 10 years. Technologies such as the smartwatch have been proposed as a method of assisting in the monitoring of blood glucose levels as well as other alert prompts such as medication adherence and daily physical activity targets. These important outcomes reach across all forms of diabetes and have the potential to increase compliance of self-monitoring with the aim of improving long-term outcomes such as hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). Objective: This systematic review aims to explore the literature for evidence of smartwatch technology in type 1, 2, and gestational diabetes. Methods: A systematic review was undertaken by searching Ovid MEDLINE and CINAHL databases. A second search using all identified keywords and index terms was performed on Ovid MEDLINE (January 1966 to August 2023), Embase (January 1980 to August 2023), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL, the Cochrane Library, latest issue), CINAHL (from 1982), IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital Libraries, and Web of Science databases. Type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes were eligible for inclusion. Quantitative studies such as prospective cohort or randomized clinical trials that explored the feasibility, usability, or effect of smartwatch technology in people with diabetes were eligible. Outcomes of interest were changes in blood glucose or HbA1c, physical activity levels, medication adherence, and feasibility or usability scores. Results: Of the 8558 titles and abstracts screened, 5 studies were included for qualitative synthesis in this review. A total of 322 participants with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus were included in the review. A total of 4 studies focused on the feasibility and usability of smartwatch technology in diabetes management. One study conducted a proof-of-concept randomized clinical trial including smartwatch technology for exercise time prescriptions for participants with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Adherence of participants to smartwatch technology varied between included studies, with one reporting input submissions of 58% and another reporting that participants logged 50% more entries than they were required to. One study reported significantly improved glycemic control with integrated smartwatch technology, with increased exercise prescriptions; however, this study was not powered and required a longer observational period. Conclusions: This systematic review has highlighted the lack of robust randomized clinical trials that explore the efficacy of smartwatch technology in the management of patients with type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes. Further research is required to establish the role of integrated smartwatch technology in important outcomes such as glycemic control, exercise participation, drug adherence, and diet monitoring in people with all forms of diabetes mellitus.
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Digital wearable devices may enhance patients' awareness of their own behaviors and support their engagement in physical activity and behavioral adjustment by objectively capturing exercise-related indicators.
“By objectively capturing exercise-related indicators, they may enhance patients' awareness of their own behaviors and support their engagement in physical activity and behavioral adjustment (5, 6).”
Previous reviews have generally examined the effects of wearable technologies on broad healthcare outcomes in chronic diseases, the clinical application of smartwatch technologies in diabetes, home-based digital diabetes management, or the effects of wearable technologies on physical activity and metabolic outcomes.
“Previous reviews have generally examined the effects of wearable technologies on broad healthcare outcomes in chronic diseases, the clinical application of smartwatch technologies in diabetes, home-based digital diabetes management, or the effects of wearable technologies on physical activity and metabolic outcomes (5, 6, 24, 31).”
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Sun, W., Xie, D., Hou, W., Zhang, M., Wang, C., Wang, Z., Yang, H., Xu, G., & Dai, H. (2026) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2026.1871682
- Authors
- Diez Alvarez, S., Fellas, A., Wynne, K., Santos, D., Sculley, D., Acharya, S., Navathe, P., Gironès, X., & Coda, A.
- Affiliations
- Hunter Medical Research Institute (AU)
- John Hunter Hospital (AU)
- Queen Margaret University (GB)
- University of Newcastle Australia (AU)
- Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service (AU)
- Generalitat de Catalunya (ES)
- ORCID
- Venue
- JMIR mhealth and uhealth
- Publisher
- JMIR Publications Inc.
- Published
- 2024-12-03
- Volume
- 12
- Pages
- e54826-e54826
- ISSN
- 2291-5222 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4401872659
- Cited by
- 15
- References
- 45
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 7
- FWCI
- 1.36
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- JMIR mhealth and uhealth (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Queen Margaret University Publications Repository (Queen Margaret University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Diabetes Management and Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Diabetes Management and Education
- Keywords
- smartwatches, diabetes mellitus, type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, gestational diabetes mellitus, blood glucose monitoring, glycemic control, HbA1c, medication adherence, physical activity, exercise prescription, feasibility and usability, self-monitoring, wearable devices, diabetes management, user engagement, technology adoption barriers, cost barriers, digital health interventions
- MeSH terms
- Wearable Electronic Devices, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, Female, Humans, Pregnancy, Blood Glucose Self-Monitoring, Diabetes, Gestational
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