Team-based online game helps patients manage diabetes: study

Participants earned "points" for correctly answered questions and were assigned to teams based on their geographic region, and individual and team scores were posted on leader boards to foster a sense of competition and community.

The game took place over a six-month period and levels of HbA1c, a common measure of long-term blood glucose control, were tested at enrollment, six months and 12 months after the launch of the game.

Overall, diabetes game participants had significant reductions in HbA1c levels -- a drop of 0.74 percent compared to 0.44 percent for the control group.

Patients who had the highest HbA1c levels before the game began saw the most dramatic drops in HbA1c over the 12 month period, it found.

"Among the subgroup of patients with uncontrolled diabetes, we saw a reduction in HbA1c levels that you would expect to see when a patient starts a new diabetes medication," said corresponding author B. Price Kerfoot, an associate professor of surgery at the Brigham and Women's Hospital who is on faculty at the Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System.

"Although their blood glucose levels were still above the target range, this was a strong step in the right direction, and resulted in a sustained and meaningful improvement in blood glucose control," Kerfoot said. "This game represents a small time commitment for patients, but potentially a big impact for their health."