Ascensia Diabetes Care, a global specialist diabetes care company, dedicated to helping people living with diabetes. has launched its upgraded version of the Contour Diabetes app in 24 countries worldwide. This latest version includes the new My Patterns feature, which uses innovative algorithms to more intelligently analyse blood glucose results received from the Contour Next One meter, and delivers personalised meaningful feedback to patients. This feedback is designed to help patients improve diabetes self-management and maintain positive lifestyle changes.

The upgraded Contour Diabetes app has recently been launched in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, India, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, and USA, adding to the launches in Germany, UK and Ireland that took place at the end of 2017. This new release is now available in the Apple App Store (iOS) and Google Play (Android).

The Contour Diabetes app was first launched in 2016 and is designed to seamlessly connect to the Contour Next One meter†. The My Patterns feature on the upgraded Contour Diabetes app analyses data received from the meter to identify and notify the user of sub-optimal patterns in their blood glucose readings. Once it has notified the user that a pattern has been identified, the Contour Diabetes app will prompt users about the possible causes of the pattern and provide guidance to help address it. It allows patients to set reminders or use testing plans to help improve their blood glucose patterns, and will track their progress to see if the pattern improves over time*. The latest version of the app includes the ability to recognise 14 different patterns and use 11 different structured testing plans. The app will continue to evolve in the future to include additional patterns and testing plans, as well as adding new features and functionality.

My Patterns has been developed using evidence-based behavioral science concepts from the Information, Motivation and Behavioral Skills (IMB) model of health behavior change, pioneered by health psychologists Dr. William Fisher and Dr. Jeffrey Fisher. This well-researched model shows that people with diabetes need actionable information, motivation to act on that information and a set of specific behavioral skills, in order to make changes to improve the self-management of their diabetes. Studies to assess this model have demonstrated that the presence of all three elements in people with diabetes is associated with more frequent blood glucose testing and improved self-management actions1. The My Patterns feature of the Contour Diabetes app is designed to help the user in these three areas and support more effective self-management, enabled by technology.

Dr. William Fisher, Professor of Psychology and health psychologist at Western University, London, Canada, commented: “Self-management is essential in diabetes, and three decades of research concerning the Information—Motivation—Behavioral Skills model of health behavior show that well informed and well–motivated individuals who have the skills needed to initiate and maintain health behaviors can do so effectively and over the long-term. The IMB model—stressing the provision of actionable diabetes self-management information, motivation to act on it, and skills development for acting effectively—helped guide development of this latest version of the Contour Diabetes app to create an accessible, intuitive tool that employs an evidence-based health behavior model delivered through the latest technology, to enable more effective and personalised diabetes self-management.”

Michael Kloss, chief executive officer, Ascensia Diabetes Care, explained: “The My Patterns feature on the new Contour Diabetes app represents a real advance in the use of data for diabetes management. It can uncover patterns in blood glucose readings that patients may not have otherwise recognised and provides tailored reminders that can support improved self-management. This can help people with diabetes stay on track between visits to their doctor and can provide meaningful information for more informed consultations.”

Michael added: “We are very excited to be able to bring this new innovation to patients. At Ascensia we are listening to feedback from people with diabetes about their needs, and are continuing to invest in further development of the Contour Diabetes app, so that we can provide solutions that make diabetes self-management better, easier and smarter.”

The Contour Next One BGMS is also the most accurate system that has been developed by Ascensia Diabetes Care to date. Published study data has shown the Contour Next One BGMS to be remarkably accurate, meeting EN ISO 15197:2015 accuracy criteria in both the laboratory and clinical setting. A study has shown that 95% of results were within ±8.4 mg/dL or ±8.4% of the laboratory reference values for glucose concentrations < 100 mg/dL or = 100 mg/dL, respectively, when tested via subject obtained fingerstick results.

Ascensia Diabetes Care is a global specialist diabetes care company, dedicated to helping people living with diabetes. Our mission is to empower people living with diabetes through innovative solutions that simplify and improve their lives. We use our innovation and specialist expertise in diabetes to develop high quality solutions and tools that make a positive, daily difference for people with diabetes.