Discordance between Glucose Management Indicator and Glycated Hemoglobin in a Pediatric Cohort with Type 1 Diabetes: A Real-World Study

Abstract

The introduction of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems in clinical practice has allowed a more detailed picture of the intra- and interdaily glycemic fluctuations of individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1D). However, CGM-measured glucose control indicators may be occasionally inaccurate. This study aims to assess the discrepancy between the glucose management indicator (GMI) and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) (Δ_GMI-HbA1c) within a cohort of children and adolescents with T1D, exploring its correlation with other CGM metrics and blood count parameters. In this single-center, cross-sectional study, we gathered demographic and clinical data, including blood count parameters, HbA1c values, and CGM metrics, from 128 pediatric subjects with T1D (43% female; mean age, 13.4 ± 3.6 years). Our findings revealed higher levels of the coefficient of variation (CV) (p < 0.001) and time above range > 250 mg/dL (p = 0.033) among subjects with Δ_GMI-HbA1c > 0.3%. No association was observed between blood count parameters and Δ_GMI-HbA1c. In conclusion, despite the advancements and the widespread adoption of CGM systems, HbA1c remains an essential parameter for the assessment of glycemic control, especially in individuals with suboptimal metabolic control and extreme glycemic variability.

Keywords: adolescent; automated insulin delivery; blood count; children; continuous glucose monitoring; glycemic variability; glycosylation; hybrid closed loop; insulin; time in range.