Participatory Surveillance of Hypoglycemia and Harms in an Online Social Network Participatory Surveillance of Hypoglycemia and Harms

Weitzman ER, Kelemen S, Quinn M, et al. — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Importance

Surveillance systems for elucidating the burden of hypoglycemia are limited.

Objective

To quantify experiences of hypoglycemia and related harms, members of an international online diabetes social network with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus were polled through a software application (“app”). Aggregate results were returned to participants through network channels.

Design

The study period was from March 2011 through April 2012, during which time retrospective reports about experiences with hypoglycemia and related harms were collected from participants using the app.

Setting

The study was undertaken within the TuDiabetes.org international online diabetes social network.

Participants

Eligibility criteria included TuDiabetes membership, age 13 years or older, a self-reported diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, ability to read and write English, and Internet access. Of 2827 app users, 687 (response rate, 24.3%) opted in to the volunteer sample.

Main Outcome Measures

Primary outcomes included the following: frequency of “going low” (having a low glucose value in the past 2 weeks) and episodes of severe hypoglycemia (in the past 12 months), and, for respondents reporting recent and/or severe hypoglycemia, lifetime experience of vehicle crashes or severe medical injury, daily debilitating worry, and withdrawal from driving, exercise, sex, and going outside of the home to avoid hypoglycemia and consequences. Secondary outcomes included measures of research engagement.

Results

Of 613 respondents (24.3% of app users), 49.1% reported more than 4 episodes of “going low” in the past 2 weeks and 29.2% reported 1 or more severe low in the past year; 16.6% reported both more than 4 recent low episodes and 1 or more severe event in the past year. Harms were common, including daily debilitating worry (45.8%), vehicle crash or injury (15.0%), and withdrawal from exercise, driving, leaving home, and having sex (54.0%, 37.4%, 24.8%, and 22.7%, respectively). Of all respondents, 54.2% reported multiple harms, the risks for which were highest (73.7%) among respondents with a past-year severe event (odds ratio, 2.39; 95% CI, 1.60-3.58; P < .001 controlling for frequent recent low episodes and demographic and disease factors). Engagement was high, with 96.6% of the sample permitting recontact for research and 31.7% posting personal study data on their app profile page; 40.5% of 2825 unique page views of research-related materials published on the community site involved views of returned research results.

Conclusions and Relevance

Participatory surveillance of hypoglycemia in an online diabetes social network enables characterization of patient-centered harms in a community sample and bidirectional communication with affected persons, augmenting traditional surveillance.

From “Pull” to “Push”: A Transformation in Medicine Comment on “Participatory Surveillance of Hypoglycemia and Harms in an Online Social Network” From “Pull” to “Push”

Neinstein A. — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Consider the words we use to describe what a physician does when she or he sits across from a patient to perform a history. Take. Obtain. Elicit. These words all conjure images of physicians extracting information from patients. We pull information not just from our patients but also from our information systems, calling up vital signs and laboratory results when we want them, on our time and our terms. However, this is rapidly changing, as information will be coming to us from the patients themselves to create “push” medicine. Are we ready? Not yet, but with some pivoting and some preparation, we can be.

JAMA Internal Medicine: Internet Topic Collection

Participatory Surveillance of Hypoglycemia and Harms in an Online Social Network Participatory Surveillance of Hypoglycemia and Harms

From “Pull” to “Push”: A Transformation in Medicine Comment on “Participatory Surveillance of Hypoglycemia and Harms in an Online Social Network” From “Pull” to “Push”