San Diego-based Scripps Whittier Diabetes Institute is conducting a clinical trial called Dulce Digital-Me, to investigate whether text message interventions can improve type 2 diabetes management for high-risk Hispanic patients.
Dulce Digital-Me is funded by a five-year $2.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. For the project, Scripps Whittier Diabetes Institute partnered with UC San Diego Department of Family Medicine and Public Health to manage remote data collection and with San Diego State University Department of Psychology to manage patient evaluation.
The study will include 414 participants, all of whom are low-income Hispanic adults with poorly-controlled type 2 diabetes, who will track their blood sugar levels and medication adherence with wireless devices. Half of the participants will also receive standardized text messages for encouragement or reminders, while the other half will receive personalized text messages, related to nutrition habits, physical activity and other factors based on their monitoring data.
The researchers will measure hemoglobin A1c levels, LDL cholesterol levels and systolic blood pressure to investigate whether personalized text messages lead to better physician communication, medication adherence, cost effectiveness and overall outcomes.