DIATEST-HELP is a national, fully remote trial assessing whether the FoodSwitch app helps people with type 2 diabetes make healthier food choices and improve glycaemic control and cardiovascular risk.
Approximately 5% of the Swedish population lives with T2D, a metabolic disease associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular complications. Although dietary management is one of four pillars of T2D treatment, access to dietetic services remains limited for many patients in primary care, where most individuals with T2D receive their treatment.
DIATEST-HELP (DIgitAl diabeTES Treatment 鈥� the Healthy Eating, heaLthy Patients trial) evaluates the effectiveness of the FoodSwitch/DiabetesSwitch smartphone application developed by our collaborator The George Institute for Global Health, designed to assist individuals with T2D in making healthier food purchasing decisions in grocery stores.
Jonathan Knowles
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All participants use a digital platform to report symptoms, functioning, and quality of life. At baseline and after 3 and 6 months, participants collect capillary blood samples at home using a finger-prick dried blood spot (DBS) sampling and return the samples by regular postal services. At the end of the study, participants receive feedback on their HbA1c levels.
The study combines questionnaire data and blood samples with information from Swedish healthcare registers. The primary outcome is change in HbA1c, a key marker of long-term glycemic control. Secondary outcomes include dietary habits, symptoms, health-related quality of life, and cardiometabolic biomarkers such as blood lipids and markers of low-grade inflammation.
DIATEST-HELP aims to establish an accessible and scalable infrastructure for remote data collection in clinical research. By integrating digital health technologies with home-based sampling, the study seeks to facilitate nationwide participation, reduce geographical barriers to research involvement, and strengthen the role of Swedish primary care in patient-centered clinical research. This approach has the potential to improve both research accessibility and the implementation of evidence-based lifestyle interventions for individuals with T2D.
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Siri F盲gerstam, Emir Johansson, Peder af Geijerstam, Karin R氓dholm & Bijar Ghafouri
Peder af Geijerstam1,2, Emir Johansson1,3, Siri F盲gerstam1, Jason HY Wu4, Bijar Ghafouri1, Karin Karlsson5, Lana Hebib1,6, Lisa Kastbom1,7, Patrik Wennberg8, Emelie Gustafson Hedov5, Maria Storg盲rds9, Johan Sundstr枚m4,5, Karin R氓dholm1,3,4
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