Due to the increasing prevalence of diabetes worldwide, treatment and management costs of individuals with diabetes have become a major issue. Supporting self-management to improve glycaemic control by simplifying diabetes management is one way to address this aspect. The utilisation of blood glucose meters with colour-range indicator (CRI) has been shown to lower HbA1c. This budget impact analysis aimed at evaluating the financial impact of using a CRI-based glucose meter in five European countries: France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK.
Data from a randomised controlled trial, evaluating the effect of CRI-based glucose meters, were used to estimate the ten-year risk of patients for fatal myocardial infarction as calculated by the UKPDS risk engine. On the basis of assessed risks for myocardial infarction, the potential monetary impact for the five European healthcare systems was modelled.
Based on a mean HbA1c reduction of 0.36%, as demonstrated in a randomised controlled trial using CRI-based glucose meters, the UKPDS risk engine estimated a 2.4% reduction of the ten-year risk of patients for fatal myocardial infarction. When applied to our economic model, substantial potential cost savings for the healthcare systems of five European countries were calculated: €547 472 (France), €9.0 million (Germany), €6.0 million (Italy), €841 799 (Spain), and €421 069 (United Kingdom) per year.
Utilisation of CRI-based glucose meters can aid the improvement of metabolic management in individuals with diabetes. In turn, this may also positively affect the expenditure of the healthcare systems on the complications of diabetes.