Developing a culturally sensitive expert system for carbohydrate counting and determining insulin doses for patients with insulin-dependent diabetes

Abstract

The prevalence of diabetes is increasing globally. The risk of developing diabetes complications can be reduced by continuous self-monitoring and following carbohydrate counting (CC) approach. Diabetic patients find difficulty in calculating carbohydrate intake manually. Systems and applications that aid in CC and insulin dose determination are few and no similar systems were created while considering the dietary characteristics and the culture of Gulf cooperation council (GCC) countries. To combat this problem accurately, a culturally sensitive expert system is developed to help insulin-dependent diabetic patients in determining the appropriate insulin doses based on the carbohydrate count. The expert system involved the usage of different food composition tables that incorporate both traditional and international food for better adherence by the patient. After validating using different performance metrics and case studies it was concluded that this system is user-friendly and can be accessed in both English and Arabic languages.