A brace of new studies suggest that text message programs can aid diabetics as they manage their condition. One major piece of research, published in Health Affairs, was prompted by the understanding that even patients with chronic conditions typically spend no more than a few hours annually in a health care setting, but their overall health was largely determined by the way their diabetes was managed at home.

Conducted by the University of Chicago Medicine, the research looked at one disease management program – mHealth – and its impact on adults with diabetes over the course of six months. The program uses automated text software to engage patients with their own healthcare, and to co-ordinate care efforts made on their behalf by nurses and physicians.

The research was conducted between May 2012 and February 2013. It observed a net cost saving of 8.8% among patients who used the technology, indicating that such programs can help reduce the per capita cost of healthcare. According to the study’s authors, the research provides evidence that text messaging can

“enable health care organizations to effectively support patients beyond the traditional healthcare setting and achieve the triple aim of better health, better health care, and lower costs."

The second study, published in the first 2014 edition of the Journal of Medical Internet Research, found that low-income Latino diabetes patients will accept text messages as a preferred form of behavioral intervention. The trial used a fully-automated text program designed to “increase knowledge, self-efficacy and subsequent disease management and glycemic control.”

In the JMIR research, five focus group interviews were conducted with 24 participants. Researchers sent personalized medication reminders and challenge messages to patients, and found the low-cost strategy to be effective at persuading patients to follow cues.

A similar program was run by the University of Minnesota. Their findings supported those published in the JMIR, indicating that Latino adolescent females – the fastest growing ethnic minority in the United States - were particularly responsive to text messages as a form of diabetes management and glycemic control.

The studies appear to support what the mobile marketing community has known for a long time: text messages work. As a widely available, low-cost technology, texting is fast becoming a vital tool when it comes to engaging patients and encouraging self-care in between doctor’s appointments.