indianapolis: Researchers of the Regenstrief Institute showed that continuous glucose monitors and other portable devices present portability and usability issues for patients and their caregivers when used by older people with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes to test and control under sugar in the blood.
“This is a whole area of healthcare technology that needs study. There is hardware involved, which is the device itself. There is software involved, which reads, organizes, interprets, and communicates the data from the device. Knowing how the technology works in the real world and the impact of technology on usability and ultimately health outcomes is important,” said Michael WeinerDoctor in medicine, miles per hourwho led the study.
In an initial test of continuous use of the glucometer, the defective adhesive of the device, a serious problem portability challenge – and the patient’s difficulty in interpreting the graphics produced by the device. In a subsequent trial, 70 older adults with diabetes wore glucometers and activity monitors, and used smartphones and electronic medicine bottles to monitor and control their blood sugar over a two-week period.
During these two weeks of follow-up, nearly three-quarters of the study participants experienced low blood sugar, often of a severe magnitude. Among these 70 patients, two-thirds of whom were African-American and more than half were women, nearly one in four indicated that they had not tested their blood sugar before the study.
Diabetes is more common in the elderly population than in the general population, and up to one in five older adults have the disease. Hypoglycemia, also known as low blood sugar, is especially common in people with diabetes due to their medical condition and the treatment they receive. Both diabetes and hypoglycemia carry independent risks of dementia. Diabetes confers approximately twice the risk of dementia. The frequency of episodes of low blood sugar among people with diabetes adds to that dementia risk, independently.
Among the main findings of the study: Study participants found glucose monitors and other portable devices difficult to use, suggesting a need for device manufacturers to improve the portability and usability of the devices.
Study participants were very interested in understanding their numbers (such as glucose levels) and the implications of these numbers.
Nearly three-quarters of the study participants had low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), suggesting a need for monitoring devices to achieve more direct and effective blood sugar control among older adults.
“When we looked for hypoglycemia in an urban population of older adults receiving care at a safety net health care facility, we found that it is extremely common, more common than anyone previously knew, because no one had really looked for it,” said Dr. Dr. Weiner. .
“That 73 percent of those in our study had low blood sugar is extremely concerning because hypoglycemia must always be addressed.
“Although a smartphone is very commonly used with continuous glucometers, we found that when we issued smartphones to study participants, they often did not have them with them, contributing to the fact that, during the study, one-third of smartphone users phone calls throughout the day, medication, behavior, and symptom prompts were ignored,” Dr. Weiner said. “And while I think there is a lot of potential in the future for using electronic medication vials, we found that study participants either did not use them correctly or did not properly transfer their oral medications to the vials.”
