Ascensia’s oral presentation at ATTD highlights challenges of hypoglycemia management using apps

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Feb 19 2020Ascensia Diabetes Care

Today, at the International Conference on Advanced Technologies & Treatments for Diabetes (ATTD) 2020, Ascensia presented data from a study that assessed the performance of blood glucose monitoring systems (BGMSs) when used with mobile applications (apps) for diabetes management. At the event, data from Ascensia’s first ever oral presentation highlighted the challenges of hypoglycemia management using apps and demonstrated that not all BGMSs using apps are capable of detecting hypoglycemia with a high probability, which has the potential to make them less effective in supporting glycemic control. ATTD 2020 is taking place in Madrid, Spain from February 19-22, 2020.

Apps for type 1 and type 2 diabetes management often rely on data from glucose monitoring devices, such as BGMSs. These apps are designed to provide support that can help to reduce the occurrence of hypoglycemia and enable more effective glycemic control. Therefore, the performance of these apps in hypoglycemia management is dependent on the quality and accuracy of the data from the BGMSs, particularly in the low blood glucose range (LBGR: ≤70 mg/dl).

The Ascensia sponsored study presented at ATTD used a statistical model applied to real BGMS data to calculate the probability of achieving ±15% of a reference blood glucose (BG) value of 50 mg/dl for a variety of available BGMSs that can link to apps for diabetes management1. The BGMSs included were CONTOUR^®NEXT ONE (CNO), Accu-Chek Aviva Connect, FreeStyle Freedom Lite, GlucoMen Areo and OneTouch Verio.

The study demonstrated that not all systems were capable of detecting hypoglycemia with a high probability. Based on this analysis in the LBGR, the probability of achieving ±15% of the reference BG value of 50 mg/dl for CNO was above 95%, whereas it was below 95% for some of the other BGMSs studied. Specifically, CNO’s predicted BG value was 50.74mg/dL, with a 95% confidence interval of ±3.25 mg/dL. This analysis shows that BGMS selection is critical in assessing the effectiveness of apps for glycemic control and hypoglycemia detection.

These results follow two recent studies that demonstrate the accuracy of products in the CONTOUR^® portfolio in the LBGR, which are also being presented as posters at ATTD 2020. These two studies also used data from clinical trials applied to a linear regression model to calculate the likelihood of accurate BGMS performance in the LBGR. These assessments showed that the CNO, CONTOUR^®PLUS (CP) and CONTOUR^®PLUS ONE (CPO) BGMSs maintained high levels of accuracy in the LGBR, which is important for safe and effective diabetes management. The probability of having results within ±15% of the reference BG values was >95% for all three systems, and was in contrast to other systems included in these studies.

Together, the results of these studies highlight the importance of selecting a highly accurate BGMS in order to enable effective diabetes management through an app and demonstrate the high levels of accuracy of the three BGMSs from the CONTOUR^® range in the LBGR.

James Richardson, Medical Lead BGM – Mature Markets at Ascensia Diabetes Care, said:

It’s a privilege to be invited to present these important findings to the diabetes community at ATTD 2020, which is a first for Ascensia. We believe these studies are of great clinical importance to people with diabetes, as the results show that accurate blood glucose data is critical for effective use of diabetes management apps.”

Sabina Furber, M.D., Chief Medical Officer at Ascensia Diabetes Care, added:

These findings demonstrate the importance of the accuracy of blood glucose monitoring systems in the low blood glucose range where the risks to health are the highest and the impact of accuracy on the effectiveness of diabetes management apps. We want to be at the forefront of scientific excellence in assessing the quality of diabetes devices and digital solutions. These data further validate the accuracy of Ascensia’s world-renowned CONTOUR^® product portfolio, which many people depend upon to manage their diabetes.”