• Hadas Miremberg, Tal Ben-Ari, Tal Betzer, Hagit Raphaeli, Rose Gasnier, Giulia Barda, Jacob Bar, and Eran Weiner.
• Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Edith Wolfson Medical Center, Holon, Israel; Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. Electronic address: dasile2@gmail.com.
• Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 2018 Apr 1; 218 (4): 453.e1-453.e7.

BackgroundPatient compliance and tight glycemic control have been demonstrated to improve outcome in pregnancies complicated by gestational diabetes mellitus. The use of advanced technological tools, including smartphone-based platforms, to improve medical care and outcomes has been demonstrated in various fields of medicine, but only a few small studies were performed with gestational diabetes mellitus patients.ObjectiveWe aimed to study the impact of introducing a smartphone-based daily feedback and communication platform between gestational diabetes mellitus patients and their physicians, on patient compliance, glycemic control, pregnancy outcome, and patient satisfaction.Study DesignThis is a prospective, single-center, randomized controlled trial. Newly diagnosed gestational diabetes mellitus patients presenting to our multidisciplinary diabetes-in-pregnancy clinic were randomized to: (1) routine biweekly prenatal clinic care (control group); or (2) additional daily detailed feedback on their compliance and glycemic control from the clinic team via an application installed on their smartphone (smartphone group). The primary outcome was patient compliance defined as the actual blood glucose measurements/instructed measurements ×100. The secondary outcomes included diabetes-control parameters, pregnancy, and neonatal outcomes. The study was adequately powered to detect a 20% difference in patient compliance, based on a preliminary phase that demonstrated 70% baseline compliance to glucose measurements.ResultsA total of 120 newly diagnosed gestational diabetes mellitus patients were analyzed. The 2 groups did not differ in terms of age, parity, education, body mass index, family history, maternal comorbidities, oral glucose tolerance test values, and hemoglobin A1C at randomization. The smartphone group demonstrated higher level of compliance (84 ± 0.16% vs 66 ± 0.28%, P < .001); lower mean blood glucose (105.1 ± 8.6 mg/dL vs 112.6 ± 7.4 mg/dL, P < .001); lower rates of off-target measurements both fasting (4.7 ± 0.4% vs 8.4 ± 0.6%, P < .001) and 1-hour postprandial (7.7 ± 0.8% vs 14.3 ± 0.8%, P < .001); and a lower rate of pregnancies requiring insulin treatment (13.3% vs 30.0%, P = .044). The rates of macrosomia, neonatal hypoglycemia, shoulder dystocia, and other delivery and neonatal complications did not differ between the groups. Patients in the smartphone group reported excellent satisfaction from the use of the application and from their overall prenatal care.ConclusionIntroduction of a smartphone-based daily feedback and communication platform between gestational diabetes mellitus patients and the multidisciplinary diabetes-in-pregnancy clinic team improved patient compliance and glycemic control, and lowered the rate of insulin treatment.Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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