Type 2 diabetes patients with and without self-monitoring blood glucose devices reported no significant differences in clinical outcomes or adverse events, according to a study in JAMA Internal Medicine.
The researchers — led by Laura A. Young, MD, PhD, of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill — identified 450 patients with Type 2 diabetes, none of whom were treated with insulin and all of whom were older than 30 years of age. The researchers assigned patients one of three interventions: no SMBG, daily SMBG and daily SMBG with enhanced patient feedback.
After one year, researchers found no significant differences in hemoglobin A1c levels or health-related quality of life measures across all three groups. The three groups did not report any notable differences in adverse events, such as hypoglycemia frequency, healthcare utilization or insulin initiation.
"In patients with non–insulin-treated type 2 diabetes, we observed no clinically or statistically significant differences at 1 year in glycemic control or HRQOL between patients who performed SMBG compared with those who did not perform SMBG," the study authors concluded.