Frequent glucose testing is required for optimal management of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Limited data are available regarding real-world experience of the novel technology for monitoring by interstitial glucose monitoring (IGM) systems. We aimed to assess the effect of IGM systems in a real-life clinical setting on glycemic control parameters, among adult T1DM patients.
Cross-sectional analysis about effectiveness and safety of IGM systems on intensive-treated (continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion or multiple dose insulin injections) T1DM adult patients in routine clinical practice. All insulin-pump treated patients were recruited. Multiple dose insulin injections (MDI) treated patients were randomized selected (1:1) from our T1DM database. The protocol was approved by the reference Castilla-La Mancha Public Health Institute Ethic Committee.
Ninety patients (45 on insulin-pumps and 45 on MDI). Mean age 36.8±11.0 yrs. and mean T1DM duration 18.6±10.7 yrs. Mean insulin-pump treatment was 5.6±3.9 yrs. Forty-seven percent (42) of the patients were treated with interstitial glucose monitoring (IGM) system (FreeStyle Libre, 13%; Guardian Sensor 3, 24%). Glycated haemoblobin and percentage of glucose values <3.9 mmol/L (70 mg/dL) were lower among IGM users compared with those using exclusively self-monitoring of blood glucose (7.0±0.8% vs. 7.7±1.2%, P=0.001; 5.9±6.1% vs. 11.2±9.2%; P=0.003). Furthermore, IGM treated patients administered higher number of daily insulin boluses (4.9±1.7 vs. 3.3±1.1, P<0.001).
Real-life observational data in an adult intensive-treated T1DM population demonstrated a significant reduction in HbA1c and hypoglycaemia with IGM systems.