ABSTRACT
To examine whether psychosocial needs in diabetes care are associated with carbohydrate counting and if carbohydrate counting is associated with satisfaction with diabetes applications' usability, a randomized crossover trial of 92 adults with type 1 or 2 diabetes requiring insulin therapy tested two top-rated diabetes applications, mySugr and OnTrack Diabetes. Survey responses on demographics, psychosocial needs (perceived competence, autonomy, and connectivity), carbohydrate-counting frequency, and application satisfaction were modeled using mixed-effect linear regressions to test associations. Participants ranged between 19 and 74 years old (mean, 54 years) and predominantly had type 2 diabetes (70%). Among the three tested domains of psychosocial needs, only competence-not autonomy or connectivity-was found to be associated with carbohydrate-counting frequency. No association between carbohydrate-counting behavior and application satisfaction was found. In conclusion, perceived competence in diabetes care is an important factor in carbohydrate counting; clinicians may improve adherence to carbohydrate counting with strategies designed to improve perceived competence. Carbohydrate-counting behavior is complex; its impact on patient satisfaction of diabetes application usability is multifactorial and warrants consideration of patient demographics such as sex as well as application features for automated carbohydrate counting.
