The Impact of Prolonged Use of Continuous Glucose Monitoring Sensors in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus: Accuracy and Financial Burden

According to IDF, the worldwide cost of treating diabetes mellitus (DM) in patients aged 20 to 79 years is estimated at 727 million USD. The aim of this study was to conduct a pilot investigation of the impact of prolonged use of the continuous glucose monitoring sensors on the measurement accuracy and on the costs associated with these sensors. Data from 10 patients with type I DM who used the CGM sensor for a prolonged period beyond the expiration date specified by the manufacturer were used for analysis and statistical processing. The Enlite and Dexcom sensors partially or fully covered by public health insurance in the Czech Republic were used. A total of 453 measurements were analyzed. Nonparametric statistic tests were used for statistical data processing. The study results shown that the prolongation of the sensor usage time does not have a significant influence on the accuracy of its measurement. At the same time, it was confirmed that there was a statistically significant difference between the values of glycemia measured by CGM and the blood glucose level measured by personal glucometer. The cost reduction of 30-85% could be achieved in case of prolonged use of CGM sensors (from 6-7 days to 10 days), depending on the sensor type and age group of the patient.