Management of glucose profile throughout strict COVID-19 lockdown by patients with type 1 diabetes prone to hypoglycaemia using sensor-augmented pump.

AIMS

Spain has been one of the worst affected countries by the COVID-19 pandemic. A very strict lockdown at home was imposed with a tough restriction of mobility. We aimed to evaluate the impact of this exceptional scenario on glucose profile of patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) prone to hypoglycaemia using sensor-augmented pump (SAP).

METHODS

Patients with T1D prone to hypoglycaemia using SAP (640G Medtronic-Minimed) for at least 6 months under the funding of a National Health Service were included in an observational, retrospective study. Data were collected in two periods: pre-lockdown (PL), February 23rd-March 7th and within lockdown (WL), April 1st to 14th 2020. The primary outcome was the difference in the proportion of time in target glucose range of 70-180 mg/dL (TIR). Additional glucometric data and total daily insulin were also analysed.

RESULTS

Fifty-nine patients were included: 33 women, age 46.17 ± 13.0 years and disease duration of 30.2 ± 12.0 years. TIR 70-180 mg/dL (67.6 ± 11.8 vs. 69.8 ± 12.0%), time > 180 (28.1 ± 13.6 vs. 25.5 ± 13.1%), time > 250 (6.9 ± 6.1 vs. 5.1 ± 4.8) and estimated HbA (6.94 ± 0.8 vs. 6.75 ± 0.7%) significantly improved (PL vs. WL, respectively, p < 0.05). Time in hypoglycaemia, coefficient of variation, sensor usage and total daily insulin dose remained unchanged.

CONCLUSIONS

Lockdown conditions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic may be managed successfully in terms of glycaemia control by population with DT1 prone to hypoglycaemia using SAP. The strict daily routine at home could probably explain the improvement in the time in glycemic target without increasing the time hypoglycaemia.