Effectiveness of continuous glucose monitoring on short-term in-hospital mortality among frail critically ill patients with COVID-19 (Preprint)

BACKGROUND 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). 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. 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. 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). 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.