The Effect of Novel Glucose Monitoring System (Flash Glucose Monitoring) on Mental Well-being and Treatment Satisfaction in Japanese People with Diabetes.

INTRODUCTION: FreeStyle Libre (Abbot Diabetes Care Ltd) has been launched as a novel glucose monitoring system called flash glucose monitoring (FGM) in Europe. Several reports are becoming available on its usefulness and safety. To date, however, reports from Asian countries have not been made available. In this study, we evaluated its usefulness in Japanese people with diabetes in terms of its mental well-being and patient satisfaction outcomes.

METHODS: Individuals with type 1 and 2 diabetes treated with insulin were enrolled, and they performed self-monitoring of blood glucose. All participants were subjected to FGM for 14 days and compared for changes in mental well-being using the WHO-Five Well-Being Index (WHO-5) (1998 version) as well as in patient satisfaction using the Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire (DTSQ) before and after implementation of FGM.

RESULTS: The study included a total of 80 subjects (type 1/2 diabetes, 57/23). The WHO-5 scores were significantly improved from 15.5 ± 4.1 at baseline to 17.2 ± 4.5 after implementation of FGM (P < 0.001); the DTSQ scores also were significantly improved from 24.8 ± 6.0 to 26.7 ± 5.2 (P = 0.001). In type 1 diabetes, both the WHO-5 and DTSQ scores were significantly improved from baseline (P = 0.001, P = 0.001), while neither the WHO-5 scores nor the DTSQ scores were improved in type 2 diabetes.

CONCLUSIONS: The study results suggest that FGM has the potential to improve mental well-being and treatment satisfaction among individuals with type 1 diabetes.