THURSDAY, June 3, 2021 (HealthDay News) – For insulin-treated patients with diabetes, real-time continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) has been linked to improvements in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and a reduction in emergency rooms and hospital stays for hypoglycemia. according to a study published online June 2 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Andrew J. Karter, Ph.D., of Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, Calif., And colleagues estimated the clinical results of real-time CGM initiation in a cohort of 41,753 participants with insulin-treated diabetes (5,673 with type 1 diabetes and 36,080 with Type 2 diabetes). Ten endpoints were measured in 3,806 CGM initiators and 37,947 non-initiators during the 12 months before and after baseline.
The researchers found that the average HbA1c value decreased from 8.17 to 7.76 percent for CGM initiators and from 8.28 to 8.19 percent for non-initiators (adjusted difference in differences – 0.40 percent) . The hypoglycemia rates (emergency room or hospital use) decreased in CGM initiators (5.1 to 3.0 percent) and in non-initiators (1.9 to 2.3 percent; difference-difference estimate -2.7 percent) ) to. Statistically significant differences were observed in the adjusted net changes in the proportion of patients with HbA1c below 7 percent, below 8 percent and above 9 percent (adjusted difference-in-differences estimates 9.6; 13.1 and -7.1 percent; respectively ); there were also statistically significant differences in the number of outpatient and telephone visits (adjusted difference-in-differences estimates, −0.4 and 1.1).
“In this observational study, patients selected by clinicians for real-time CGM initiation achieved improved glycemic control and lower hypoglycemia rates,” the authors write.
Several authors have disclosed links to Dexcom.
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