medwireNews: Follow-up results from the WISDM trial, published in Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics, show that extended use of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) leads to reduced hypoglycemia without increasing hyperglycemia risk in older people with type 1 diabetes.
Lauren Kanapka (Jaeb Center for Health Research, Tampa, Florida, USA) and co-authors say that the initial results of the 6-month trial showed that CGM users had significantly reduced hypoglycemia and improved overall glycemic control compared with standard blood glucose monitoring (BGM) users.
The extension study followed up 194 participants (median 68 years, 52% women); 100 were CGM users who continued with CGM and 94 were BGM users who switched to CGM for the 26 weeks of the extension.
Individuals who remained in CGM showed a reduction in the median proportion of time spent in hypoglycemia (<70 mg/dL; 3.88 mmol/L), from 5.0% at baseline to 2.6% at 26 weeks, remaining stable at 2.8% at 52 weeks. For those initially assigned to BGM the decrease was from a median 3.9% before the switch to CGM, to 1.9% at 52 weeks.
In addition, CGM use was also associated with sustained improvement in the proportion of time in range (70–180 mg/dL; 3.88–9.99 mmol/L), and reduced glycated hemoglobin levels.
The team concludes: “These data provide further evidence for fully integrating CGM into clinical practice.”