Popular Diabetes Mobile Applications for Medication Intake Monitoring

Abstract

To solve the problem of monitoring and supporting the drug adherence of patients with diabetes using diabetes mobile applications, expanding and developing the mobile apps market, and increasing their competitiveness, it is necessary to conduct market research of consumer preferences and competitive advantages of diabetes apps. This paper aims to analyze popular diabetes mobile applications in Russia and the possibilities of their use to monitor and support the drug adherence of patients with type 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus. Materials and methods. The object of the study was 25 diabetes apps. The survey involved 985 mobile application users from 32 regions of Russia. All respondents were divided into two target segments. The first segment (S1) included 572 patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus, while the second target segment (S2) consisted of 413 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Field research was carried out by the method of oral survey (12.6%) and web survey (87.4%) using a structured questionnaire. Positioning was carried out using a qualitative method with a two-dimensional map of perception. Competitiveness was assessed by 28 experts using the quantitative method of individual scores with the calculation of integral indicators. Results and discussion. It was found that only about 50% of respondents in the target segment S2 and more than 70% in segment S1 had a high degree of drug adherence. The main barriers to the use of diabetes mobile applications were the insufficient formation of the support system for drug administration regimens (76.6%, S1 and 84.3%, S2) and technical difficulties (51.6%, S1 and 48.7%, S2). A comparative analysis of the results of positioning and assessment of competitiveness showed that some diabetes apps had a higher competitive advantage with an emphasis on supporting drug adherence compared to consumer preferences for their use. A strategic mechanism has been proposed to increase the importance of mobile applications to support drug administration, dosing, and control regimens in patients with diabetes mellitus to satisfy consumer preferences better. Conclusion. The results obtained provide a basis for the development of a set of measures for the further development of the basic segment of the diabetes mobile applications market for monitoring and supporting drug adherence and increasing the competitive advantages of mobile applications, which will contribute to the effective treatment and prevention of diabetes mellitus in Russia and globally.