Caregiver satisfaction with the use of continuous glucose monitoring and flash glucose monitoring in very young children with type 1 diabetes

Abstract

Background: New technologies for the management of children with type 1 diabete (T1D) are constantly and rapidly evolving. However, few real-life studies have been conducted, and rarely in the youngest patients (<6 years).

Aim: To study parental satisfaction with continuous and flash glucose monitoring devices in young children with T1D.

Methods: A questionnaire was completed by the parents of 114 children under the age of 6 years with T1D treated with an insulin pump followed-up in one of the hospitals of the French ADIM network between January and July 2020.

Results: One hundred and nine patients (96 %) were equipped with a glucose monitor and 95 % (104/109) of parents stated that they were satisfied or very satisfied with their child's monitoring device, with no significant difference in satisfaction rates between flash and continuous glucose monitoring. The parameter most strongly associated with satisfaction was confidence in the reliability of the device (p = 0.008). Parents who struggled to apply the device were significantly less satisfied (p = 0.024). In real-life use, 83 % of parents (90/109) used additional adhesives, 28 % reported mild skin reactions (30/108) and 39 % severe skin reactions (42/108), 50 % stated that applying the device was not painful, and 95 % found the device easy to apply. The most commonly reported unexpected difficulties were device malfunction (by 16 respondents), the device being too large and causing scarring (6 respondents), and lengthy calibration (6 respondents).

Conclusion: The vast majority of parents in this group of young children with T1D were satisfied with continuous or flash glucose monitoring. Satisfaction was strongly associated with confidence in the reliability of the device. Reported adverse effects such as skin reaction and difficulties attaching the device highlight the importance of data on real-life use.

Keywords: Adhesive; Diabetes; Glucose monitoring; Pediatric; Satisfaction; Skin reaction.