THE ROLE OF MOBILE HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES IN TYPE 2 DIABETES MANAGEMENT: CLINICAL EFFECTIVENESS AND SOCIAL CHALLENGES – A NARRATIVE REVIEW
Abstract
Background: Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) represents a major global healthcare challenge requiring continuous, lifelong multi-factorial self-management. While mobile health (mHealth) technologies are increasingly deployed across clinical pathways to enhance glycemic control, their long-term therapeutic effectiveness is strongly moderated by intervention software architecture, dynamic user engagement patterns, and the overarching socio-technical context. Objective s: Guided by rigorous narrative standards, this review synthesizes contemporary meta-analytic evidence regarding the comparative clinical efficacy of mHealth modalities on glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), evaluates the operational impact of hybrid (blended) care models on sustained patient retention, and critically identifies systemic socio-technical barriers to equitable technology adoption. Methods: Following the Scale for the Assessment of Narrative Review Articles (SANRA) guidelines, a structured literature search of high-level secondary evidence published between 2021 and 2026 was executed across PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Google Scholar. Implementation hurdles and non-adoption patterns were interpreted through the Non-adoption, Abandonment, Scale-up, Spread, and Sustainment (NASSS) theoretical framework. Results: Synthesized meta-analyses demonstrate that mHealth modalities achieve statistically significant and clinically meaningful reductions in HbA1c (pooled mean differences ranging from -0.32% to -0.56%). Dynamic short message service (SMS) interventions and multi-parametric smartphone applications yield significantly higher metabolic efficacy than static web platforms. However, purely automated digital interventions experience progressive user attrition over extended multi-month durations. Integrating structured, human-led clinical support markedly buffers against digital fatigue, thereby optimizing patient adherence. Key implementation barriers include disparities in digital health literacy, age-related usability constraints, and heightened data privacy apprehensions. Conclusion s: Securing the sustained therapeutic utility of mHealth in routine diabetology necessitates shifting away from unassisted automated tools toward personalized, multi-parametric, blended care frameworks supported by transparent data governance policies.