Objective: We aimed to investigate the effectiveness of CGM on intensive care unit (ICU) related outcomes among frail and critically ill patients with confirmed COVID-19.

Research Design and Methods: This was an exploratory, prospective, randomized, open-label, parallel, single-center clinical trial. A total of 124 patients was finally analyzed. The primary outcome was 28-day in-ICU mortality. The secondary outcome included the length of ICU stay, the occurrence of hypoglycemia and severe hypoglycemia events.

Results: The mean age was 78.3±11.5 years old. The mean fasting glucose level at baseline was 8.12±1.54 mmol/L. The mean HbA1c level was 7.2±0.8%. The percentage of participants with diabetes was 30.6%. The corresponding hazard ratio of the primary outcome in the isCGM group when compared with the POCT group was 0.18 (95%CI 0.04-0.79). The average length of ICU stay was 10.0±7.57 days in the isCGM group and 14.0±6.86 days in the POCT group (P < 0.05). There were fewer events of both hypoglycemia and severe hypoglycemia observed in the isCGM group compared to POCT group.

Conclusions: We found a significant clinical benefit from the use of CGM among frail and critically ill patients with COVID-19. These findings support the use of CGM in ICU and might help with the extension of application in various in-hospital settings.

Disclosure

W. Wang: None. Y. Shen: None.

Readers may use this article as long as the work is properly cited, the use is educational and not for profit, and the work is not altered. More information is available at http://www.diabetesjournals.org/content/license.