Laura Young, MD, PhD, and Katherine Bergamo, FNP-C, are local principal investigators for two papers recently published in the Journal of American Medicine Association.
Young, associate professor in the division of endocrinology and metabolism, published the Effect of Continuous Glucose Monitoring on Hypoglycemia in Older Adults With Type 1 Diabetes.
In this randomized clinical trial that included 203 adults aged 60 years or older with type 1 diabetes, treatment for 6 months with continuous glucose monitoring compared with standard blood glucose monitoring resulted in a significantly lower percentage of glucose values less than 70 mg/dL (adjusted difference, 1.9%).Among older adults with type 1 diabetes, continuous glucose monitoring resulted in a small but statistically significant improvement in hypoglycemia over 6 months.
Bergamo, a faculty instructor in the division of endocrinology and metabolism, published the Effect of Continuous Glucose Monitoring on Glycemic Control in Adolescents and Young Adults With Type 1 Diabetes.
Adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes exhibit the worst glycemic control among individuals with type 1 diabetes across the lifespan. Although continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) has been shown to improve glycemic control in adults, its benefit in adolescents and young adults has not been demonstrated. In this randomized clinical trial that included 153 participants aged 14 to 24 years with type 1 diabetes, treatment with continuous glucose monitoring compared with standard blood glucose monitoring resulted in a significantly lower hemoglobin A1c level after 26 weeks (adjusted difference, 0.37%). Among adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes, continuous glucose monitoring compared with standard blood glucose monitoring resulted in a small but statistically significant improvement in glycemic control over 26 weeks.
Both studies show that further research is needed to understand the clinical importance of the findings.