Harnessing Digital Initiatives for Improved Health Outcomes in Diabetes Management: An Observational Patient Program

Patients with diabetes have easy access to a wide range of digital applications that may help with self-management and lower barriers; however, robust evidence of their effectiveness remains somewhat elusive. Zyla is a medical artificial intelligence (AI)-based personalized care management app that assists the treating physician in improving the standard of patient care by offering the patients comprehensive and individualized care. This preliminary evaluation of data collected through the Zyla app aims to understand the impact of diabetes disease outcomes among patients subscribed to this app.

This was a retrospective, observational program conducted through the Zyla app in the calendar year 2020. The Zyla app's objective is to assist the treating physician in improving the standard of patient care by giving them the choice of assembling a personalized team (consisting of clinical nutritionists, physiotherapists, and counselors over a virtual platform) that can offer patients comprehensive and individualized care. Data on parameters like glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), fasting blood sugar (FBS), post-prandial glucose (PPG), serum creatinine (SC), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were collected through the Zyla app. Clinical outcomes assessed were the change from baseline to last reported levels of the mentioned parameters and are reported using descriptive analysis.

The glycemic control parameters, HbA1c (change from baseline (CFB): -1.08), FBS (CFB: -15.93), and PPG levels (-18.42), were significantly lower (P<0.0001) at the last assessment compared with baseline. For the lipid profile, levels of TGs (P<0.0001) and TC (P = 0.0037) were significantly lower compared with baseline, while HDL-C levels were comparatively higher (CFB: 0.68) and LDL-C levels were lower (CFB:11.60), however non-significant. Serum creatinine was also lower compared to baseline (CFB: -0.25); however, the difference was not statistically significant.

A significant improvement in all glycemic parameters was seen with the use of the Zyla app along with numerical improvements in kidney function parameters and cholesterol status among patients. These preliminary findings warrant further rigorous studies to validate the impact of medical apps in the management of diabetics in India.