Is the fingertip obsolete? Flash glucose monitoring put to the test

Are the days of a painful pricking in the fingertip soon to be over? A recent study looks at how flash glucose monitoring compares to standard glucose measurement.

About the flash monitoring study

• 156 study participants with 1:1 randomisation.
• Type 1 diabetics with an HbA1c between 7.5% and 11%.
• Patients in the flash monitoring group achieved a significant improvement in HbA1c after 24 weeks and were better controlled overall.
• The sensor was well tolerated.

Unclear data on flash measurement

Since the introduction of continuous blood glucose monitoring with the help of a sensor (flash monitoring or Flash GM), it is uncertain whether this type of diabetes monitoring is associated with specific benefits. A new study from the UK investigated just that - and compared the results with the outcomes of conventional measurement by fingerstick blood.

Both interventions lead to a better HbA1c, but one comes out on top

The study included 156 type-1 diabetics with an HbA1c between 7.5% and 11%. Half were assigned to the flash monitoring group, while the other half determined their glucose level with the classic fingertip prick.

After 24 weeks, the results were evaluated:

• The flash group achieved a significantly better reduction in their HbA1c compared to the fingerstick group.
• The continuous monitoring led the patients to spending more time in a normoglycaemic state - namely 130 minutes more per day than the control group.
• Analogously, the time in hypoglycaemia was also shorter in the intervention group than in the control group - namely about 43 minutes.
• Two severe hypoglycaemias occurred in the control group, while only a skin reaction to the sensor was reported in the flash group.

Data show significant improvement for patients

Diabetic patients can benefit from continuous glucose monitoring. Data suggests that this type of monitoring leads to better disease control and lower HbA1c levels.