The narrative synthesis provided mixed effects of CHITs on other clinical , psychosocial , behavioral , and knowledge outcomes .
Conclusions The use of CHITs appears to be more effective than usual care in improving glycemic control for patients with diabetes .
However , their effectiveness did not remain consistent over time and in other patient outcomes .
Objective To reveal the effects of consumer-oriented health information technologies ( CHITs ) on patient outcomes in diabetes management over time through systematic review and meta- analysis .
Continued use of an integrated meter with electronic logbook maintains improvements in glycemic control beyond a randomized, controlled trial.
BACKGROUND Blood glucose monitoring is an important component of diabetes self-management for individuals with insulin-treated diabetes . Although patient-maintained logbooks are routinely used , glucose values may be inaccurately recorded or not recorded at all . Electronic logbooks may help overcome such problems . We conducted a r and omized , controlled trial ( RCT ) to compare glycemic control in insulin-treated participants using  integrated glucose meters and electronic logbooks ( Electronic Group ) with participants using conventional meters and paper logbooks ( Paper Group ) , and to determine persistence of glycemic improvements during long-term observational follow-up . METHODS After a 4-week run-in , adult and pediatric participants ( n = 205 ) with stable hemoglobin A(1C ) ( A1C ) > or=8.0 % were r and omized , and their logbook data and A1C were monitored every 4 weeks for 16 weeks . After the RCT , patients selected their monitoring systems and resumed usual care . The four result ing subgroups , defined by whether patients continued or changed monitoring systems , were reassessed after 26 - 65 weeks . RESULTS During the RCT , mean A1C decreased -0.27 % in the Paper Group and -0.35 % in the Electronic Group . Repeated- measures analysis revealed that the mean decrease was significantly greater in the Electronic than the Paper Group ( P = 0.022 ) . From r and omization through observational follow-up , participants consistently using integrated meters/logbooks had an A1C decrease of -0.36 % ( P = 0.008 ) , whereas participants using conventional meters/logbooks throughout or switching meters returned to pre-enrollment A1C levels . CONCLUSIONS Compared to conventional monitoring systems , use of an integrated meter and electronic logbook result ed in modest , but significant and sustained , improvement in A1C in insulin-treated patients with suboptimal glycemic control during an RCT and observational follow-up
The narrative synthesis provided mixed effects of CHITs on other clinical , psychosocial , behavioral , and knowledge outcomes .
Conclusions The use of CHITs appears to be more effective than usual care in improving glycemic control for patients with diabetes .
However , their effectiveness did not remain consistent over time and in other patient outcomes .
Objective To reveal the effects of consumer-oriented health information technologies ( CHITs ) on patient outcomes in diabetes management over time through systematic review and meta- analysis .