Telemetric Continuous Glucose Monitoring During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Isolated Hospitalized Patients in Denmark: A Randomized Controlled Exploratory Trial

Carina Kirstine Klarskov*, Nicole Avlund Windum, Mikkel Thor Olsen, Arnold Matovu Dungu, Andreas Kryger Jensen, Birgitte Lindegaard, Ulrik Pedersen-Bjergaard, Peter Lommer Kristensen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objective: To investigate whether telemetric continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) in hospitalized and isolated patients with diabetes mellitus and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is associated with better glycemic outcomes and fewer patient health care worker contacts compared to blood glucose monitoring by traditional point-of-care (POC) glucose testing and to investigate the user aspect of implementing a CGM-system in-hospital.Materials and Methods: A randomized controlled exploratory trial was performed on hospitalized and isolated patients with diabetes and COVID-19 from May 2020 until February 2021 at Nordsj AE llands Hospital, Denmark. Participants were randomized to nonblinded telemetric CGM (as the only glucose monitoring method) or traditional POC glucose testing + blinded CGM. The primary endpoint was time in range (TIR) based on CGM data in both groups. A questionnaire about the user aspect of the CGM system was answered by health care personnel (HCP).Results: We included 64 participants in the analysis, 31 in the CGM group and 33 in the POC glucose group. TIR median was 46% for the CGM group and 68% for the POC glucose group (P = 0.368). The mean glucose value for the CGM group was 11.1 and 10.8 mmol/L in the POC glucose group (P = 0.372). CGM was associated with fewer POC glucose measurements (P < 0.001). Out of 30 HCPs, 28 preferred telemetric CGM over POC glucose testing.Conclusion: Remote glucose monitoring by CGM did not improve glycemic outcomes compared to traditional POC glucose testing, but was associated with fewer patient-personnel contacts, saving time for HCPs performing diabetes-related tasks. Most HCPs preferred CGM. The study is registered at http://www.clinicaltrials.gov (#NCT04430608).

Original languageEnglish
JournalDiabetes Technology & Therapeutics
Volume24
Issue number2
Number of pages11
ISSN1520-9156
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Keywords

  • COVID-19
  • Diabetes mellitus
  • Continuous glucose monitoring
  • Isolation
  • Infection
  • Personal protective equipment
  • Telemetric medicine
  • HYPERGLYCEMIA

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