Abstract
Introduction: The effect of flash glucose monitoring on glycaemic control and patient satisfaction in insulin-treated type 2 diabetes (T2D) from Saudi Arabia is uncertain. The aim of this prospective observational study was to evaluate the change in HbA1c (Hemoglobin A1c) and satisfaction with treatment following the initiation of flash glucose monitoring.Methods: This single-arm, single-centre prospective observational study included flash glucose monitoring-naive adult patients with T2D managed with multiple daily injections of insulin therapy (MDI) and HbA1c ≥7%. HbA1c was measured, and the Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire (DTSQ, Arabic version) and Glucose Monitoring Satisfaction Survey (GMSS) were completed at baseline and 12 weeks.Results: For participants (n=54) from one diabetes centre, HbA1c significantly improved by 0.44% from 8.22%±0.69 (mean±SD) at baseline to 7.78%±0.71 at 12 weeks, p<0.001. Confirmed hypoglycaemic episodes reduced from 4.43±1.51 episodes/month to 1.24±1.15 (-3.19, p<0.001). Glucose monitoring frequency improved, indicated by the number of scans per day, with a mean increase of 5.13 (p <0.001) tests/day. GMSS scores improved across all four categories, as did overall treatment satisfaction (p<0.001 for all categories). Patients perceived clear improvements across all questions relating to satisfaction and frequency of hypo- or hyperglycaemic episodes.Conclusion: Following initiation of flash glucose monitoring in patients with T2D and MDI insulin therapy, HbA1c improved with reduced hypoglycaemic events and increased patient-reported satisfaction. This study contributes valuable data on the use of flash glucose monitoring in this population, and a larger multicentre study is warranted to inform future health policy for T2D in Saudi Arabia.
Highlights
The effect of flash glucose monitoring on glycaemic control and patient satisfaction in insulin-treated type 2 diabetes (T2D) from Saudi Arabia is uncertain
We introduced flash glucose monitoring to a cohort of patients with T2D treated with multiple daily injections of insulin therapy (MDI) therapy who had previously only used a traditional finger-prick method of blood glucose monitoring
We have shown that the introduction of flash glucose monitoring was associated with improvements in markers of glycaemic control and self-reported patient satisfaction, as well as decreases in perceived and actual episodes of hypoglycaemia, the total daily dose of insulin, body mass index (BMI), and weight-to-height ratio (WtHr), despite a relatively short study duration
Summary
The effect of flash glucose monitoring on glycaemic control and patient satisfaction in insulin-treated type 2 diabetes (T2D) from Saudi Arabia is uncertain. A more recent report from the International Diabetes Federation places the Middle East and North Africa region first in regional rankings of world-age standardised diabetes prevalence [10] This continued upward trend in the pervasiveness of T2D is accompanied by evidence of poor glycaemic control in this patient group [11, 12], which has sparked calls for more comprehensive nationwide research to enable tailoring of self-management programs to meet the needs of the T2D population in Saudi Arabia [13, 14]. In order to begin the process of addressing this data paucity, the primary aim of this prospective observational study was to introduce flash glucose monitoring
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