Short- and Long-Term Effects of Real-Time Continuous Glucose Monitoring in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes

  1. Nicole M. Ehrhardt, MD2
  1. 1Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Diabetes Institute, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland
  2. 2Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Fort Belvoir, Virginia
  1. Corresponding author: Robert A. Vigersky, robert.vigersky{at}


OBJECTIVE To determine whether short-time, real-time continuous glucose monitoring (RT-CGM) has long-term salutary glycemic effects in patients with type 2 diabetes who are not on prandial insulin.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS This was a randomized controlled trial of 100 adults with type 2 diabetes who were not on prandial insulin. This study compared the effects of 12 weeks of intermittent RT-CGM with self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) on glycemic control over a 40-week follow-up period. Subjects received diabetes care from their regular provider without therapeutic intervention from the study team.

RESULTS There was a significant difference in A1C at the end of the 3-month active intervention that was sustained during the follow-up period. The mean, unadjusted A1C decreased by 1.0, 1.2, 0.8, and 0.8% in the RT-CGM group vs. 0.5, 0.5, 0.5, and 0.2% in the SMBG group at 12, 24, 38, and 52 weeks, respectively (P = 0.04). There was a significantly greater decline in A1C over the course of the study for the RT-CGM group than for the SMBG group, after adjusting for covariates (P < 0.0001). The subjects who used RT-CGM per protocol (≥48 days) improved the most (P < 0.0001). The improvement in the RT-CGM group occurred without a greater intensification of medication compared with those in the SMBG group.

CONCLUSIONS Subjects with type 2 diabetes not on prandial insulin who used RT-CGM intermittently for 12 weeks significantly improved glycemic control at 12 weeks and sustained the improvement without RT-CGM during the 40-week follow-up period, compared with those who used only SMBG.

  • Received July 31, 2011.
  • Accepted October 7, 2011.


This Article

  1. Diabetes Care
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