Fitterfly Diabetes CGM Digital Therapeutics Program for Glycemic Control and Weight Management in People With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Real-world Effectiveness Evaluation
Authors: Joshi Shilpa , Verma Ritika , Lathia Tejal , Selvan Chitra , Tanna Snehal , Saraf Amit , Tiwaskar Mangesh , Modi Alok , Kalra Sanjay , K Vasudevarao , Chitale Manoj , Malde Forum , Abdul Khader Mohammed , Singal Arbinder Kumar 
Published: March 2023

Background

Digital therapeutic platforms facilitate health care through patient-centered strategies based on multidisciplinary teams and shared decision-making. Such platforms can be used for developing a dynamic model of diabetes care delivery, which can help in improving glycemic control by promoting long-term behavior changes in people with diabetes.

Objective

This study aims to evaluate the real-world effectiveness of the Fitterfly Diabetes CGM digital therapeutics program for improving glycemic control in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) after the completion of 90 days in the program.

Methods

We analyzed deidentified data of 109 participants in the Fitterfly Diabetes CGM program. This program was delivered through the Fitterfly mobile app coupled with continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) technology. This program consists of 3 phases: the first phase is observation, wherein the patient’s CGM readings are observed for 7 days (week 1); the second phase is the intervention; and the third phase aims at sustaining the lifestyle modification introduced during the second phase. The primary outcome of our study was the change in the participants’ hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels after program completion. We also evaluated the changes in participant weight and BMI after the program, changes in the CGM metrics in the initial 2 weeks of the program, and the effects of participant engagement in the program on improving their clinical outcomes.

Results

At the end of the 90 days of the program, the mean HbA1c levels, weight, and BMI of the participants were significantly reduced by 1.2% (SD 1.6%), 2.05 (SD 2.84) kg, and 0.74 (SD 1.02) kg/m2 from baseline values of 8.4% (SD 1.7%), 74.45 (SD 14.96) kg, and 27.44 (SD 4.69) kg/m2 in week 1, respectively (P<.001). The average blood glucose levels and time above range values showed a significant mean reduction by 16.44 (SD 32.05) mg/dL and 8.7% (SD 17.1%) in week 2 from week 1 baseline values of 152.90 (SD 51.63) mg/dL and 36.7% (SD 28.4%), respectively (P<.001 for both). Time in range values significantly improved by 7.1% (SD 16.7%) from a baseline value of 57.5% (SD 25%) in week 1 (P<.001). Of all the participants, 46.9% (50/109) showed HbA1c reduction ≥1% and 38.5% (42/109) showed weight loss ≥4%. The average number of times the mobile app was opened by each participant during the program was 108.80 (SD 127.91) times.

Conclusions

Our study shows that participants in the Fitterfly Diabetes CGM program showed a significant improvement in their glycemic control and reduction in weight and BMI. They also showed a high level of engagement with the program. Weight reduction was significantly associated with higher participant engagement with the program. Thus, this digital therapeutic program can be considered as an effective tool for improving glycemic control in people with T2DM.