Associations Between Engagement with the BitHabit Digital Lifestyle Intervention and Changes in Type 2 Diabetes Risk...

Area of Science:

• Digital health interventions
• Metabolic disease prevention
• Behavioral science

Background:

• Type 2 diabetes (T2D) poses a significant public health challenge.
• Lifestyle modification is key for T2D prevention and management.
• Digital behavior change interventions (DBCIs) offer scalable solutions for promoting healthy lifestyles.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the association between user engagement with the BitHabit app, a habit-formation-based DBCI, and changes in T2D risk factors.
• To assess the impact of DBCI use on diet quality, anthropometric measures, and glycemic control over 12 months.

Main Methods:

• A 12-month prospective study involving 963 participants at risk for T2D.
• User engagement quantified via app log data metrics and subjective user ratings.
• Analysis of associations between engagement metrics and changes in diet quality, waist circumference, BMI, physical activity, and glucose levels.

Main Results:

• Higher user engagement with the BitHabit app strongly correlated with improvements in diet quality.
• Weak positive associations were found between engagement and reductions in waist circumference and BMI.
• No significant associations were observed for physical activity levels or glycemic control (fasting plasma glucose, 2-hour post-OGTT glucose).

Conclusions:

• Increased utilization of the BitHabit app demonstrates potential benefits for T2D risk factor management.
• The findings highlight the efficacy of DBCIs in improving dietary habits, a critical component of T2D prevention.
• Further research may explore optimizing DBCIs to influence a broader range of T2D risk factors.