How can we monitor glycaemic variability in the clinical setting?

Abstract

No universal consensus exists on how to express glycaemic variability. Among other parameters, standard deviation of blood glucose values, mean amplitude of glycaemic excursions (MAGE), the Low Blood Glucose Index (LBGI) and the High Blood Glucose Index (HBGI), which were subsequently combined into the Average Daily Risk Range (ADRR), mean of daily differences (MODD) and glycaemic variability index (GVI) are highlighted. The continuous glucose monitoring in research and clinical settings has been a great help for a comprehensive approach to circadian blood glucose evaluation and identification of individual patterns, mainly in type 1 diabetes, but recently also in type 2 diabetes. In everyday clinical practice the judicious use of self-monitoring of blood glucose in an educational setting involving the patient and the care team is an unreplaceable tool to effectively and safely guide behavioural and drug therapy.

Keywords: continuous glucose monitoring; glycaemic variability; self-monitoring of blood glucose; type 1 diabetes; type 2 diabetes.