Understanding temporal changes and seasonal variations in glycemic trends using wearable data

Seasonal variations in glycemic trends remain largely unstudied despite the growing prevalence of diabetes. To address this gap, our objective is to investigate temporal changes in glycemic trends by analyzing intensively sampled blood glucose data from 137 patients (ages 2 to 76, primarily type 1 diabetes) over the course of 9 months to 4.5 years. From over 91,000 days of continuous glucose monitor data, we found that glycemic control decreases significantly around the holidays, with the largest decline observed on New Year’s Day among the patients with already poor glycemic control (i.e., <55% time in the target range). We also observed seasonal variations in glycemic trends, with patients having worse glycemic control in the months of November to February (i.e., mid-fall and winter, in the United States), and better control in the months of April to August (i.e., mid-spring and summer). These insights are critical to inform targeted interventions that can improve diabetes outcomes.