Background: In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of FreeStyle Libre Flash Glucose Monitoring (FGM) implementation in a real life clinical setting with the emphasis on the effect of initial education on the use of the FGM system.
Methods: This prospective observational study included 425 diabetes type 1 subjects followed up for 3 to 12 months (320 were followed up to 3 months, 267 up to 6 months and 147 up to period of one year). An FGM sensor was placed at study entry and all participants were educated through a period of 5 days on sensor usage and self-management of glycemia with follow up visits every 3 months.
Results: HbA1c values significantly decreased from baseline (T0) to 3 months (T3) (p < 0.001), with a drop from 7.48% ± 0.1% to 7.30 ± 0.1%. There was no change in time spent in hypoglycemia from T3 to T12, although there was a decreasing trend present. The change in HbA1c values in the entire cohort was driven by change in the subgroup of patients with HbA1c ≥7% with a drop from 8.22% ± 1.14% to 7.68% ± 1.26% (p < 0.0001) in the first 3 months. Also, in individuals performing SMBG less than 5 times per day, there was a steady decrease in HbA1c levels up to 6 months (p < 0.05 and p < 0.001, respectively) as opposed to those who performed SMBG ≥5 times per day.
Conclusions: The improvement in HbA1c was mainly driven by the increase in the number of scans per day. The subjects with poorer glycemic control and those who seldom performed SMBG benefited the most.
Keywords: FreeStyle Libre; diabetes type 1; education; glycemic control; real life settings.