Country for PR: Hong Kong
Contributor: PR Newswire Asia (Hong Kong)
Friday, November 13 2020 - 16:20
AsiaNet
Integrating Fitbit Wearable Devices into Diabetes Care Leads to Significant Improvements in Blood Glucose and HbA1C, Finds Health2Sync Clinical Study in Taiwan
TOKYO, Nov. 13, 2020 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --

-Wearing Fitbit devices with Health2Sync glucose control app clinically proven 
to help both users and healthcare providers to control and better manage the 
symptoms of Type 2 diabetes 
-Results from the study in Taiwan revealed an improvement in patients' health 
conditions, with participants recording higher levels of physical activity, 
reduced HbA1C, fasting blood glucose and LDL-C, and higher blood glucose 
measurement frequency
-The Health2Sync Patient Management Platform allows healthcare providers to 
seamlessly monitor patients' information and provide remote consultative advice 
where necessary

Health2Sync, the number one diabetes management app in Taiwan and Japan, today 
announced the results of their clinical study in Taiwan, demonstrating that 
combining Fitbit wearable devices with their Health2Sync Patient Management 
Platform can help users control and better manage the symptoms of Type 2 
diabetes mellitus (T2DM). In the study[1], conducted with four of Taiwan's 
leading diabetes clinics, participants recorded significant average 
improvements in key indicators, such as reduced HbA1C, fasting blood glucose  
and LDL-C, and higher blood glucose measurement frequency -- a valuable proof 
of concept for using Fitbit wearables with diabetes care protocols and 
solutions.

https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1333383/Fitbit_Inspire_HR.jpg
Voluntarily connecting their Fitbit Inspire HR with the Health2Sync App enabled 
study participants to let their doctors seamlessly monitor their information on 
the Health2Sync Patient Management Platform and provide remote consultative 
advice where necessary.

The study found:

-Average glycated haemoglobin (HbA1C) decreased 0.33%, while patients who did 
moderate to high-intensity activity duration of at least 150 mins per week, saw 
their average HbA1C[2] decrease 0.66% 
-Average fasting blood glucose (BG) decreased 10.92 mg/dL 
-Average low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) decreased 11.55 mg/dL 
-Weight reduction of up to 2 kilograms among some patients 
-Increased frequency in moderate to high intensity activity to 7.03 times a 
week among some patients 

Conducted over a three-month period ending in July 2020 in conjunction with the 
Neng-Chun Diabetes Clinic, Da-Ya Chang-An Clinic, Yier Clinic and Banqiao 
Da-Jun Clinic, the study, with patient consent, lets the patients' doctors 
track the progress and lifestyle changes of 95 participants with T2DM. Prior to 
the commencement of the study, doctors at the four clinics established 
benchmarks for all participating patients based on blood glucose tests at the 
start of the trial, then on a self-monitored weekly basis throughout the study 
period. 

Each participant was given a Fitbit Inspire 
HR[https://www.fitbit.com/tw/inspire] and the participants voluntarily agreed 
to connect their Fitbit wearable data with the Health2Sync diabetes management 
app to track their progress throughout the program. Physical activity data 
generated from each person's Fitbit device was integrated into the Health2Sync 
app, which housed other health metrics such as patients' HbA1c, BG and 
cholesterol levels. This let doctors seamlessly monitor patients' information 
on the Health2Sync Patient Management Platform and provide remote consultative 
advice where necessary.

Dr. Kuo-Liang Lu of Da-Ya Chang-An Clinic in Taiwan, said: "The results speak 
for themselves. We saw a reduction in some of our patients' weight by an 
average of two kilograms and fasting BG levels of study participants from Da-Ya 
Chang-An clinic decreased 11.10 mg/dL within 3 months[3], leading to 
significant health improvements."

Dr. Neng-Chu Yu of Neng-Chun Diabetes Clinic said: "Type 2 diabetes, with the 
right lifestyle changes – medication adherence, increased activity, and better 
diet – can lead to major improvements in control of blood glucose levels. The 
integration of Fitbit data with Health2Sync let me easily view my patients' 
activities and self-monitored data, enabling me to make necessary suggestions 
and give guidance to help patients for further improvement."

Diabetes is a chronic condition that, if not managed, can lead to health 
complications like blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke and lower 
limb amputation.[4] It remains the second highest cause in premature mortality, 
after cancer, among major non-communicable diseases in Taiwan[5] and its 
prevalence has posed economic burdens such as increased personal and healthcare 
spending and loss of work productivity.[6]

A holistic approach to managing T2DM requires lifestyle changes, which includes 
medication adherence, exercise and proper diet. The integration with Fitbit 
wearable devices and activity data is key to helping to promote healthier 
behaviours and improve participants' health outcomes. Participants received 
reminders for weekly exercises via their Health2Sync App, which promoted an 
increased frequency in moderate to high intensity activity at 7.03 times a 
week. The increased levels of activity corresponded with an improvement in 
patients' health conditions. 

"We are thrilled to see such optimistic results in the clinical study. We 
believe that innovations in Fitbit wearable devices and Fitbit health solutions 
have a major role to play in the global effort against diabetes – whether it is 
in reducing the onset of diabetes, or helping patients to better manage their 
condition – and we look forward to further expanding on our partnership with 
Fitbit," said Ed Deng, CEO at Health2Sync.

"The behavioural changes exhibited by study participants reinforces our belief 
that Fitbit amplifies our intrinsic motivation to adopt healthier habits, which 
can make all the difference when dealing with a condition like Type 2 diabetes 
where lifestyle factors play such a big role," said Steve Morley, Vice 
President of International Health Solutions & General Manager of Asia Pacific 
at Fitbit. "Together with the seamless experience that Health2Sync provides for 
patients and their health providers to track key indicators, they create a 
powerful solution that makes it simpler and more convenient to manage 
conditions like Type 2 diabetes."

In September last year, Fitbit and Health2Sync collaborated to allow the 
integration of Fitbit's health, sleep and fitness wearable data with the 
Health2Sync app (with user consent) to support Health2Sync's 520,000 users in 
Japan and Taiwan to better manage their conditions, like Type 2 diabetes. The 
new platform gives users who have a Fitbit account access to an in-app 
dashboard that includes the option to agree to share their wearable data from 
their Fitbit devices[7], including heart rate, sleep and physical activity, 
alongside recent blood glucose readings from Health2Sync depicting if levels 
fall within, above, or below the healthy range. 

[1] The study was conducted on 95 participants, ages 18- 60.
[2] The term HbA1c refers to glycated haemoglobin. Diabetics with higher levels 
of HbA1c face greater risk of developing diabetes-related complications.
[3] Average fasting blood glucose levels of study participants from Da-Ya 
Chang-An clinic decreased 11.10 mg/dL compared to the study average of 10.92 
mg/dL
[4] "Diabetes" World Health Organization, 2020. 
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/diabetes.
[5] IC Chen., Yu NC. "A Decade of Diabetes Care in Taiwan." Diabetes research 
and clinical practice. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2014. 
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25550058/. 
[6] Wong LC., Tsai CY., Chou HK., Tsai MT., Tsai WH., Chou.P., and Shen ST. 
"Healthcare costs associated with progressive diabetic retinopathy among 
National Health Insurance enrollees in Taiwan, 2000-2004." BMC Health Services 
Research, May 26, 2010. 
https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1472-6963-10-136
[7] Includes Fitbit Sense, Fitbit Versa 3, Fitbit Charge 4, Fitbit Inspire 2, 
among others.
 
About Health2Sync

Health2Sync scales diabetes care by providing a digital engagement platform 
that is comprised of a mobile App for diabetics, cloud-based analytics, and 
cloud platform for healthcare providers. The smart analytics algorithms provide 
users with personalized education and guidance based on their biometric and 
behavior data captured. With the cloud platform, healthcare providers can 
easily take control of patients' condition through the analyzed data. 

Health2Sync is the largest diabetes management platform in Asia (excl. China) 
and proven to help users improve their outcome.  Health2Sync has supported 
partners including pharmaceuticals, private payers, and the public payor to 
provide diabetics with innovative services.  In 2017, 2018 and 2019 Health2Sync 
was selected as Top 10 Diabetes App globally by Healthline.

SOURCE: Health2Sync

Image Attachments Links:

   Link: https://iop.asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=376655

   Caption: Voluntarily connecting their Fitbit Inspire HR with the Health2Sync 
App enabled study participants to let their doctors seamlessly monitor their 
information on the Health2Sync Patient Management Platform and provide remote 
consultative advice where necessary.

Attachments
Fitbit-Inspire-HR.jpg
Translations

Japanese