Effect of Mobile Apps on Medication Adherence of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review of Recent Studies
Open accessAbstract
Medication adherence is a critical aspect of managing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and achieving optimal clinical outcomes. Mobile app-based interventions have emerged as a promising tool to enhance adherence and glycemic control in T2DM patients. This systematic review aims to evaluate the effectiveness of mobile app interventions in improving medication adherence and glycated hemoglobin among T2DM patients. A comprehensive search was conducted in PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar for studies published between September 2018 and September 2023. Studies were included if they were published in English and investigated the effectiveness of mobile apps in enhancing medication adherence among patients with T2DM. Studies were excluded if they included additional interventions, such as electronic pillboxes, phone calls, or SMS text messages, or if they focused on populations with chronic illnesses other than T2DM. Five studies involving 527 participants from diverse geographic locations were included in the review. The findings from the included studies show that mobile-based app interventions can significantly improve medication adherence in patients with T2DM. From the included studies, the mean HbA1c change for the intervention group was -0.664 (95%CI -0.823 to -0.506), while the mean change in HbA1c for the control group was -0.103 (95%CI -0.305 to 0.099). Studies have demonstrated the potential of mobile app-based interventions to enhance medication adherence and improve glycemic control in T2DM; further research is needed to determine the long-term effects of these interventions.
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The literature presents conflicting findings on the impact of apps in improving therapy adherence.
“The literature presents conflicting findings on the impact of apps in improving therapy adherence (34) (35).”
From Impact of digital health on Type 2 diabetes management: a randomised controlled trial of the ‘TreC Diabete’ platform (TELEMECHRON Study) (2025) · cites this paper as [34]
The Review reports that all five included studies found significant improvements in medication adherence with mobile apps, so it does not describe conflicting study-level findings. It does, however, report conflicting results across adherence measures within one study: the medication possession ratio showed no significant difference, while SEAMS did. The claim overstates that narrower inconsistency. (LLM, conf=0.82)
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- Authors
- Hakami, A. M., Almutairi, B., Alanazi, A. S., & Alzahrani, M. A.
- Affiliations
- King Fahd Military Medical Complex (SA)
- Corresponding author
- Hakami, Abdullah M
- ORCID
- Almutairi, Bader
- Venue
- Cureus
- Published
- 2024-01-07
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- e51791-e51791
- ISSN
- 2168-8184 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC10772302
- OpenAlex
- W4390650593
- Cited by
- 20
- References
- 22
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 4
- FWCI
- 1.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Cureus (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Family Practice › Medication Adherence and Compliance
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Diabetes Management and Education
- Keywords
- mobile application, medication adherence, type 2 diabetes, glycemic control, HbA1c, digital health interventions, diabetes self-management
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