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16-08-2022 | Continuous glucose monitoring | News

Parents give thumbs up to remote CGM initiation

Author: Eleanor McDermid

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medwireNews: Most parents of children starting continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) soon after their type 1 diabetes diagnosis find virtual initiation to be convenient and effective, shows a small study.

Molly Tanenbaum (Stanford University School of Medicine, California, USA) and colleagues used focus group and individual interviews to understand the experiences of 16 parents of 15 children and adolescents, aged between 2 and 17 years, who initiated CGM an average of 3 days after type 1 diabetes diagnosis.

Because of the onset of the pandemic, the CGM device was posted to the families’ homes and initiation occurred via a telehealth appointment.

Most parents found this to be a positive experience that was little different to in-person care and with additional “unique” benefits, says the team.

These included convenient access to high-quality care without having to travel, especially for those who lived a long way from the clinic, as well as the increased ease of fitting a virtual appointment around work and school commitments.

Parents of young children appreciated the appointment occurring in their own home, where their child would feel more relaxed than in a clinic, and those of older children noted the confidence and self-efficacy that resulted from first use of CGM occurring within the youths’ usual environment.

However, “[a] small number of parents would have preferred in-person delivery to increase their comfort with the new technology,” say the researchers.

These people found the virtual initiation process intimidating and felt they were more anxious about making errors without clinical staff being present in person. One family felt the challenges of managing an active toddler during CGM initiation would have been easier with an in-person visit.

“Some felt the visit was long and created a sense of information overload, though this observation is not unique to virtual delivery,” write the researchers in Diabetic Medicine.

And they report that, regardless of their personal experiences, the study participants agreed that diabetes clinics should offer a choice of virtual or in-person visits, so families can choose what is best for them.

“Our findings may encourage other clinical practices to consider virtual delivery of CGM initiation education as a feasible option which can also serve to increase flexibility within diabetes care teams,” Tanenbaum and co-authors conclude.

medwireNews is an independent medical news service provided by Springer Healthcare Ltd. © 2022 Springer Healthcare Ltd, part of the Springer Nature Group

Diabet Med 2022; doi:10.1111/dme.14923


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