A clinical study in Taiwan has found that wearing Fitbit devices with the Health2Sync glucose control app can control and better manage the symptoms of type-two diabetes.

Results from the study revealed an improvement in patients’ health conditions, with participants recording higher levels of physical activity, reduced HbA1C, fasting blood glucose and LDL-C, and higher blood glucose measurement frequency.

The Health2Sync patient management platform, the number one diabetes management app in Taiwan and Japan, allows healthcare providers to monitor patients’ information seamlessly and provide remote consultative advice where necessary.

In the study, conducted with four of Taiwan’s diabetes clinics, participants recorded significant average improvements in key indicators, such as reduced HbA1C, fasting blood glucose and LDL-C, and higher blood glucose measurement frequency. It can help users control and better manage the symptoms of type-two diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

The study found that average glycated haemoglobin (HbA1C) decreased 0.33%, while patients who did moderate to high-intensity activity duration of at least 150 minutes per week saw their average HbA1C decrease 0.66%. Average fasting blood glucose (BG) decreased 10.92mg/dL. Average low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) decreased 11.55mg/dL.

There was a weight reduction of up to 2kg among some patients and increased frequency in moderate to high intensity activity to 7.03 times a week among some patients.

Conducted over a three-month period ending in July 2020 with the Neng-Chun Diabetes Clinic, Da-Ya Chang-An Clinic, Yier Clinic and Banqiao Da-Jun Clinic, the study, with patient consent, let the patients’ doctors track the progress and lifestyle changes of 95 participants aged 18 to 60 with T2DM.

“The results speak for themselves,” said Kuo-Liang Lu of Da-Ya Chang-An Clinic. “We saw a reduction in some of our patients’ weight by an average of two kilograms and fasting BG levels of study participants from Da-Ya Chang-An clinic decreased 11.10mg/dL within three months, leading to significant health improvements.”

Prior to the start of the study, doctors at the four clinics established benchmarks for all participating patients based on blood glucose tests at the start of the trial, then on a self-monitored weekly basis throughout the study period.

Each participant was given a Fitbit Inspire HR and the participants voluntarily agreed to connect their Fitbit wearable data with the Health2Sync diabetes management app to track their progress throughout the programme. Physical activity data generated from each person’s Fitbit device was integrated into the Health2Sync app, which housed other health metrics such as patients’ HbA1c, BG and cholesterol levels.

This let doctors seamlessly monitor patients’ information on the Health2Sync patient management platform and provide remote consultative advice where necessary.

“Type-two diabetes, with the right lifestyle changes – medication adherence, increased activity and better diet – can lead to major improvements in control of blood glucose levels,” said Neng-Chu Yu of Neng-Chun Diabetes Clinic. “The integration of Fitbit data with Health2Sync let me easily view my patients’ activities and self-monitored data, enabling me to make necessary suggestions and give guidance to help patients for further improvement.”

Diabetes is a chronic condition that, if not managed, can lead to health complications such as blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke and lower limb amputation. It remains the second highest cause in premature mortality, after cancer, among major non-communicable diseases in Taiwan and its prevalence has posed economic burdens such as increased personal and healthcare spending and loss of work productivity.

A holistic approach to managing T2DM requires lifestyle changes, which includes medication adherence, exercise and proper diet. The integration with Fitbit wearable devices and activity data is key to helping to promote healthier behaviour and improve participants’ health outcomes.

Participants received reminders for weekly exercises via their Health2Sync app, which promoted an increased frequency in moderate to high intensity activity at 7.03 times a week. The increased levels of activity corresponded with an improvement in patients’ health conditions.

“We are thrilled to see such optimistic results in the clinical study,” said Ed Deng, CEO at Health2Sync. “We believe that innovations in Fitbit wearable devices and Fitbit health have a major role to play in the global effort against diabetes – whether it is in reducing the onset of diabetes, or helping patients to better manage their condition – and we look forward to further expanding on our partnership with Fitbit.”

Steve Morley, vice president in Asia Pacific at Fitbit, added: “The behavioural changes exhibited by study participants reinforces our belief that Fitbit amplifies our intrinsic motivation to adopt healthier habits, which can make all the difference when dealing with a condition like type-two diabetes where lifestyle factors play such a big role. “

In September last year, Fitbit and Health2Sync collaborated to allow the integration of Fitbit’s health, sleep and fitness wearable data with the Health2Sync app, with user consent, to support Health2Sync’s 520,000 users in Japan and Taiwan to manage their conditions, such as type-two diabetes. The platform gives users who have a Fitbit account access to an in-app dashboard that includes the option to agree to share their wearable data from their Fitbit devices, including heart rate, sleep and physical activity, alongside recent blood glucose readings from Health2Sync depicting if levels fall within, above or below the healthy range.