Parents of diabetic children are eager to enlist the use of mobile phones in an effort to ease the chore of monitoring their children's blood sugar and glucose levels according to a recent online survey.

 

“Parents are often the primary caregivers for children with diabetes, and they must learn to adjust their child's treatment based on signs and symptoms, which can vary from day to day. This can be extremely challenging during a child’s transition to adolescence,” says Alice Watson, corporate manager at the Center for Connected Health, which conducted the survey.

More that two thirds of the 202 parents surveyed expressed interest in a mobile phone glucometer that would transmit results to a child's physician. While devices using mobile phones to transmit blood sugar and glucose data do already exist, their use is not widespread. More than half the parents responding to the Connected Health survey said they would either definitely or probably sign up for such a service.

 

Connected Health, a division of Partners Healthcare, already offers SmartBeat, a system of devices that store and transmit vital sign data including blood glucose readings.