Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of a Mobile-Based Intervention for Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

The aim of this study was to evaluate the cost effectiveness of a mobile-based intervention for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and compare it with the usual management mode.

A total of 215 patients with T2DM in a tertiary-care hospital specific to diabetes were selected as the study population. This study was conducted from January 1, 2019 to January 1, 2020. Of the 215 patients, 130 were randomly assigned to the mHealth group and 85 were assigned to the usual care group. IBM SPSS 25.0 software was used for descriptive statistics, t tests, chi-square tests, and correlation analyses. Haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) was the effectiveness parameter adopted. Cost-effectiveness analyses were performed, and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were calculated.

Of the 215 patients with T2DM, the proportion of male patients was 66.0%. The mean age of the patients was 47.2 (SD 9.95). Differences in baseline information were not statistically significant between the two groups (P > 0.05). At the 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-ups, the mHealth group reported higher control rates of HbA1c than the usual care group, 67.9% versus 46.2% (P < 0.001), 72.4% versus 45.4% (P < 0.001), and 74.6% versus 47.1% (P < 0.001), respectively. The value of HbA1c was positively related to total patient cost, material fee, Western medicine fee, and hospitalization expenses (P < 0.05), with correlation coefficients of 0.202, 0.200, 0.172, and 0.183, respectively. The costs of the mHealth group and usual care group were CNY¥ 1169.76 and CNY¥ 1775.44 per patient/year, respectively. The incremental cost of the mHealth intervention was CNY¥ -605.68 per patient/year. The ICER was CNY¥ -22.02 per patient/year.

Compared with the usual care mode, the mHealth management model for patients with T2DM improved the control rate of HbA1c, and the mHealth management mode had better cost effectiveness.