Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: The quality of life (QoL) of patients with Diabetes has been the subject of several studies worldwide. In Portugal, studies have shown that patients under intensive insulin therapy had worse results in QoL questionnaires. The introduction of interstitial glucose monitoring (IGM) appears to reduce the impact of insulin therapy on QoL.

Objective: To assess whether IGM changes the quality of life of patients with diabetes, compared to the assessment of glycemia and its impact on glycemic control of patients.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study of patients with diabetes under intensive insulin therapy and IGM system. The ‘Appraisal of Diabetes Scale’ (ADS) questionnaire was used, which consists of a set of 7 items summed to reflect the patients’ self-appreciation of their diabetes management. A 0 score indicates good management, with minimal impact on quality of life and 35 worse management and a negative impact on quality of life. The ADS was completed in two stages: a questionnaire applied at the time they used blood glucose monitoring and a questionnaire applied when using IGM systems.

Results: 29 patients, 80.6% male, mean age 61 years, 58.6% with type 2 diabetes and 41.4% with type 1 diabetes. At the implementation of the IGM system, the mean duration of diabetes was 19.3 +/- 11.2 years, with HbA1c of 8.4 +/- 1.5% and 4.5 +/- 2.6 daily capillary blood glucose tests, on average. The ADS result reported to this date averaged 19 +/- 5 points. After the introduction of IGM, for an average period of 13.9 +/- 10.6 months, the mean ADS value was 16 +/- 4, corresponding to a significant reduction of 17% (P<0.0001). The mean HbA1c was 7.8 +/- 1.2%, corresponding to a 7% reduction (P=0.03), with an increase in the number of glucose measurements (12 +/- 11 IGM measurements per day (P=0.004). ADS and HbA1c results were independent of time of IGM use (P=0.2 andP=0.4) and number of daily glucose measurements (P=0.7 andP=0.9).

Discussion: The results demonstrate that the use of IGM, regardless of the number of measurements or the date of placement, has a positive impact both on diabetes control and on patients’ perception of their disease management, with a consequent improvement in QoL.