Empowering Patients Through Literacy: A Randomized Controlled Trial of an Educational App for Evaluating Complementary Therapies in Diabetes Management.

Only adults who could read and write Mandarin, owned a smartphone, and already used complementary therapies were included, so the results may not apply to older adults, lower literacy, or people without digital access. The paper reports an 18.2% dropout rate, and only participants who completed all assessments were analysed, so motivated or better-resourced participants may have driven the positive findings. The analysis was not intention-to-treat and did not impute missing follow-up data. Participants could not be blinded to app versus printed materials, so self-reported outcomes may have been influenced by knowing the group. The app group also received an initial nurse-led session, LINE messages, and phone calls, so the app alone cannot be separated from those contacts. No usage analytics were collected, so engagement and dose-response cannot be assessed. Quality of life was self-reported and not a direct health outcome. The study was conducted in northern Taiwan with Mandarin materials, so cultural and language fit may limit transfer.

The National Science and Technology Council, Taiwan funded the study. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.

Do not conclude that the app alone improves diabetes empowerment or diabetes control. Empowerment did not differ significantly, and the app did not include glucose monitoring, medication adherence logs, diet or exercise tracking.