Technology Use by Age and Region in Adults with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) in the SAGE Study
This Medfyle was published more than two years ago. More recent Medfyle on this topic may now be available.
Key messages
- Glycemic control remains generally poor in adults with type 1 diabetes. Indeed, the multinational, observational SAGE study reported that less than one quarter of adults had an HbA1c less than 7 %.
- Diabetes technology has been shown to improve diabetes management; however, data on use of such technology within specific age groups and geographic regions are limited. We, therefore, report data from SAGE to determine the use of different technologies within five regions: Asia, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East across predefined age groups.
- Of the 3858 people included in SAGE, 92% used finger-stick blood glucose monitors making these by far the most commonly used technology. Continuous glucose monitors were used by only 23.3% of people and the percentage of people using CGMs varied considerably across regions.
- Similarly, use of insulin pumps and blood ketone meters varied between regions, with the highest use of both in Western Europe across age ranges.
- Use of applications to help users adjust their diabetes medication dose was very low across all regions and appears to be mostly driven by HCP recommendations, with slightly higher usage in younger people.
- When technologies were used, the majority of respondents reported that they were extremely easy to operate, suggesting that ease of use was not a barrier to uptake.
- Diabetes technology may help improve management of type 1 diabetes. A better understainding of barriers to uptake is required to ensure it reaches individuals who will benefit.
Presenting Author
Steven Edelman, MD
Professor Of Medicine, University Of California, San Diego, US
Steven Edelman is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), San Diego, CA, USA and the Veterans Affairs (VA) Healthcare System of San Diego, and is the Director of the Diabetes Care Clinic, VA Medical Center. He achieved high honors during his undergraduate studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, CA and was the Valedictorian of his medical school class at the University of California Davis Medical School. Dr Edelman received his internal medicine training at the University of California at Los Angeles and completed his clinical endocrinology fellowship training at the Joslin and Lahey Clinics in Boston, MA, as well as a research fellowship at UCSD. Dr Edelman has strong interests in education and patient advocacy. He is the Founder and Director of Taking Control of Your Diabetes (TCOYD), a not-for-profit organization with the goal of teaching and motivating patients in diabetes self-care. Since 1995, TCOYD has reached hundreds of thousands of people living with diabetes through a variety of education portals, including national conferences, publications, television, and community programs. Dr Edelman has written more than 220 articles and five books. He has won numerous awards for teaching and humanitarianism and Dr Edelman has been chosen as the Teacher of the Year among over 400 faculty members at UCSD numerous times. He was awarded the Diabetes Educator of the Year by the American Diabetes Association in 2009, the Distinction in Endocrinology award by the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists in 2011, and was recently named in the US News and World Report as among the top 1% of endocrinologists in the USA.
Disclosures
Board Member: Senseonics, TeamType1
Medical Advisory Board: AstraZeneca, BrightSight, Companion Medical, Lilly USA, LLC, Merck, Sanofi-aventis U.S. Inc.
