Professional continuous glucose monitoring in patients with diabetes mellitus: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Aim To evaluate the effect on glucose control of professional continuous glucose monitoring (p-CGM)-based care as compared with standard care in the management of patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.Materials and methods The PubMed database was searched comprehensively to identify prospective or retrospective studies evaluating p-CGM as a diagnostic tool for subsequent implementation of lifestyle and/or medication changes and reporting glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) as an outcome measure.Results We found 872 articles, 22 of which were included in the meta-analysis. Overall, the use of p-CGM was associated with greater HbA1c reduction from baseline (-0.28%, 95% confidence interval [CI] -0.36% to -0.21%, I-2 = 0%, P < 0.00001) than usual care, irrespective of type of diabetes, length of follow-up, frequency of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) use and duration of CGM recording. In the few studies describing CGM-derived glucose metrics, p-CGM showed a beneficial effect on change in time in range from baseline (5.59%, 95% CI 0.12 to 11.06, I-2 = 0%, P = 0.05) and a neutral effect on change in time below the target range from baseline (-0.11%, 95% CI -1.76% to 1.55%, I-2 = 33%, P = 0.90).Conclusions In patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, p-CGM-driven care is superior to usual care in improving glucose control without increasing hypoglycaemia.