Abbott data links continuous glucose monitoring with lower mortality and hospitalisation risk in type 2 diabetes

Abbott has reported new real world data associating continuous glucose monitoring, including use of its Libre technology, with lower risks of death, cardiovascular complications and acute diabetes related hospitalisations among adults with type 2 diabetes.

The findings come from two separate observational studies and are being presented at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Milan.

One U.S. study evaluated nearly 28,000 adults with type 2 diabetes who were using basal insulin.

Researchers compared approximately 14,000 continuous glucose monitoring users with a similar number of people who did not use the technology.

The groups were matched across 29 baseline characteristics, while multiple sensitivity analyses were conducted to strengthen the comparison.

Among continuous glucose monitoring users, most were using Abbott’s Libre technology.

At 12 months, continuous glucose monitoring use was associated with a 45% lower risk of death from any cause compared with non use.

At 24 months, the associated reduction in mortality risk was 36%.

The analysis also found fewer cardiovascular complications among people using continuous glucose monitoring, including reductions in recurrent cardiovascular events.

Researchers used a target trial emulation approach, which applies real world data in a way designed to more closely resemble some features of a randomised clinical trial.

Abbott said the findings are the first to demonstrate an association between continuous glucose monitoring use and a lower risk of death among adults with type 2 diabetes treated with basal insulin.

Because the analysis was observational, however, the findings demonstrate an association rather than proving that continuous glucose monitoring itself caused the reduction in mortality or cardiovascular events.

Carol Wysham, MD, Clinical Endocrinologist and Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine, said the findings provide additional evidence supporting the potential value of continuous glucose monitoring for adults with type 2 diabetes using basal insulin.

She said the observed relationships with mortality and cardiovascular complications are particularly relevant because these represent some of the most serious long term consequences associated with diabetes.

A separate observational study conducted in France analysed more than 253,000 people with type 2 diabetes and examined hospital admissions for acute diabetes related events before and after the introduction of Libre technology.

These events included severe hyperglycaemia, hypoglycaemia and diabetes induced coma.

Hospitalisation rates fell by 81% among people receiving non insulin treatments.

Among people using multiple daily insulin injections, hospitalisations decreased by 56%, while a 47% reduction was observed in patients using basal insulin.

Mahmood Kazemi, MD, Chief Medical Officer for Abbott’s diabetes care business, said the findings add to evidence linking continuous glucose monitoring with outcomes beyond glucose measurements alone.

He said access to continuous glucose information can help people understand how factors such as food, activity and medication affect their glucose levels and support more informed diabetes management.

More than 63 million people worldwide rely on insulin to manage type 2 diabetes.

However, Abbott cited research indicating that only 18% to 30% of people using basal insulin achieve their HbA1c targets.

The company said this treatment gap contributes to an estimated $217 billion in annual healthcare costs related to diabetes.

Continuous glucose monitors provide ongoing information about glucose levels and trends, allowing users to observe how their levels respond to food, exercise and medication.

Abbott will also present additional findings from the FreeDM2 randomised controlled trial at EASD.

New analyses showed that adults with type 2 diabetes using basal insulin experienced improvements in time spent within their target glucose range during the first 24 hours after starting Libre 3 technology, with the benefits maintained over time.

The company will additionally showcase Libre Assist, a feature within the Libre app that combines artificial intelligence with continuous glucose monitoring data.

Libre Assist is designed to predict how food choices may affect an individual’s glucose levels, provide personalised meal guidance and compare those predictions with the actual glucose response after eating.

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Related Topics and Keywords

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