Diabetes Technology: Uptake, Outcomes, Barriers, and the Intersection With Distress

Abstract

Patients managing type 1 diabetes have access to new technologies to assist in management. This manuscript has two aims: 1) to briefly review the literature on diabetes technology use and how this relates to psychological factors and 2) to present an example of human factors research using our data to examine psychological factors associated with technology use. Device/technology uptake and use has increased over the years and at present day is a common clinical practice. There are mixed results in terms of health and psychosocial outcomes, with specific subgroups doing better than others with technology. Our data demonstrated that patients have moderately elevated diabetes distress across differing types of technology used, from low-tech to high-tech options, possibly meaning that technology does not add or take away distress. In addition, users on multiple daily injections compared to all other technology groups have less positive attitudes about technology. Finally, we discuss implications for clinical practice and future research.

Keywords: diabetes attitudes; diabetes distress; diabetes technology; psychosocial correlates; technology utilization.

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

© 2016 Diabetes Technology Society.