A web-based study of the relationship of duration of insulin pump infusion set use and fasting blood glucose level in adults with type 1 diabetes

Abstract

Background: To evaluate the impact of infusion set use duration on glycemic control, we conducted an Internet-based study using the T1D Exchange's online patient community, Glu ( myGlu.org ).

Subjects and methods: For 14 days, 243 electronically consented adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D) entered online that day's fasting blood glucose (FBG) level, the prior day's total daily insulin (TDI) dose, and whether the infusion set was changed.

Results: Mean duration of infusion set use was 3.0 days. Mean FBG level was higher with each successive day of infusion set use, increasing from 126 mg/dL on Day 1 to 133 mg/dL on Day 3 to 147 mg/dL on Day 5 (P<0.001). TDI dose did not vary with increased duration of infusion set use.

Conclusions: Internet-based data collection was used to rapidly conduct the study at low cost. The results indicate that FBG levels increase with each additional day of insulin pump infusion set use.