Research Paper Title

Use of ambulatory glucose monitoring and analysis of ambulatory glucose profile in clinical practice for diabetes management; a position statement of the Arab Society of Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes.

Background

Diabetes mellitus imposes a significant burden around the world generally and in the Middle East and North Africa specifically. Glucose monitoring is a cornerstone of diabetes management.

Methods

Glycated haemoglobin has always been the main metric for assessing glycaemic control, but its use is linked with multiple pitfalls. As an alternative, continuous glucose monitoring is becoming a standard of care in many countries. Intermittent scanning glucose monitoring (isCGM) has acquired a worldwide popularity and has been proven to improve glycaemic control, hypoglycaemia detection and prevention, and quality of life.

Results

The most recent International Society of Paediatric and Adolescent Diabetes practice guidelines recommended its use in young people with diabetes observing Ramadan to ensure safe fasting. At a meeting in Abu Dhabi in November 2019, the Arab Society for Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes brought together a number of regional diabetes experts, patient representatives and international expert advisors to review the evidence for isCGM and propose guidelines for its use in the Middle East and North Africa region.

Conclusions

In this paper, the authors strongly recommend the use of isCGM for patients in MENA and present general recommendations and compressive specific guidance for physicians and patients, which they believe will also have wider resonance.

Reference

Deeb, A., Muamar, T., Al Saffar, H., Sedaghat, S., Al Hassani, N., Odeh, R., Al Khayyat, H., Al Sinani, A., Attia, N., Adhami, S. & Elbarbary, N. (2021) Use of ambulatory glucose monitoring and analysis of ambulatory glucose profile in clinical practice for diabetes management; a position statement of the Arab Society of Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes. Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice. doi: 10.1016/j.diabres.2021.108671. Online ahead of print.