ShinyMMD: An Open-Source Shiny Web Application for a Computer Simulation Model for Type 2 Diabetes and Its Complications
Author(s)
Wen Ye, PhD1, Jing Li, MS, PhD1, Xueting Tao, MS1, William H. Herman, MD, MPH2.
1Department of Biostatistics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA, 2Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
1Department of Biostatistics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA, 2Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
OBJECTIVES: Type 2 diabetes poses an important global health challenge, affecting approximately 720 million adults worldwide. Microsimulation models are valuable tools for projecting the long-term disease burden and assessing the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of preventive and management strategies, and preventive health policies. However, the majority of microsimulation models for type 2 diabetes remain inaccessible to researchers who lack proficient programming skills.
The Michigan Model for Diabetes (MMD) is a computerized disease simulation model designed to project the progression of diabetes and its complications (including retinopathy, neuropathy, and nephropathy), comorbidities (such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases), and mortality over time. The model also estimates the medical costs of diabetes and its comorbidities, as well as the quality-of-life related to the health status of the subject.
METHODS: We developed a Shiny web application, ShinyMMD, which provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for the MMD.
RESULTS: ShinyMMD is designed to be user-friendly, requiring no programming expertise. Users can enter study population characteristics and adjust parameters such as medical costs, health utilities, treatment thresholds, and adherence rates using web-based interfaces or Excel tables. To enhance usability, the application includes a dataset representing a representative United States type 2 diabetes population, complete with model inputs and sample weights, derived from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2015-2018. The platform facilitates user interaction and allows for the creation of interactive data visualizations and reports of the analyses performed. "The Michigan Model for Diabetes (MMD)" and ShinyMMD are both COPYRIGHT © 2025 by THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN and are available to researchers under a general public license.
CONCLUSIONS: By offering a user-friendly interface, ShinyMMD significantly enhances the accessibility of the MMD, a microsimulation model for type 2 diabetes, thereby making it more accessible to researchers.
The Michigan Model for Diabetes (MMD) is a computerized disease simulation model designed to project the progression of diabetes and its complications (including retinopathy, neuropathy, and nephropathy), comorbidities (such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases), and mortality over time. The model also estimates the medical costs of diabetes and its comorbidities, as well as the quality-of-life related to the health status of the subject.
METHODS: We developed a Shiny web application, ShinyMMD, which provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for the MMD.
RESULTS: ShinyMMD is designed to be user-friendly, requiring no programming expertise. Users can enter study population characteristics and adjust parameters such as medical costs, health utilities, treatment thresholds, and adherence rates using web-based interfaces or Excel tables. To enhance usability, the application includes a dataset representing a representative United States type 2 diabetes population, complete with model inputs and sample weights, derived from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2015-2018. The platform facilitates user interaction and allows for the creation of interactive data visualizations and reports of the analyses performed. "The Michigan Model for Diabetes (MMD)" and ShinyMMD are both COPYRIGHT © 2025 by THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN and are available to researchers under a general public license.
CONCLUSIONS: By offering a user-friendly interface, ShinyMMD significantly enhances the accessibility of the MMD, a microsimulation model for type 2 diabetes, thereby making it more accessible to researchers.
Conference/Value in Health Info
2025-11, ISPOR Europe 2025, Glasgow, Scotland
Value in Health, Volume 28, Issue S2
Code
MSR185
Topic
Methodological & Statistical Research
Disease
Diabetes/Endocrine/Metabolic Disorders (including obesity)