MiaoMiao is a Bluetooth™ transmitter, which when paired with a smart phone/device, converts the Abbott FreeStyle Libre flash glucose monitoring system into a do-it-yourself (DIY) continuous glucose monitor (CGM). Families are adopting MiaoMiao, but little is known about parent and child experiences with this add-on technology. We aimed to explore experiences of families using MiaoMiao CGM including challenges faced and their advice to others who may choose to use the technology.
Between May and July 2019, we conducted twelve semi-structured interviews (in person or via videoconference) with parents of children (aged <17 years) with type 1 diabetes using MiaoMiao CGM. Interviews were audio recorded; professionally transcribed and key themes were identified through thematic analysis.
Overall, parents used MiaoMiao CGM to proactively manage their child’s blood glucose. In all participants, this led to a perceived decrease in frequency of hypoglycaemia. Participants reported that the visibility and easy access to blood glucose readings, glucose trends, and customised alarms on parent’s phones decreased their disease burden and improved their sleep quality. Common barriers to using MiaoMiao CGM included difficulty of the setting up process, connectivity issues, and lack of support from medical teams.
This study highlights the potential feasibility of using a DIY CGM system like MiaoMiao CGM, which could be an empowering and cost-effective tool for enabling remote monitoring of blood glucose in real time.