Effects of Flash Glucose Monitoring on Dietary Variety, Physical Activity, and Self-Care Behaviors in Patients with Diabetes

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of flash glucose monitoring on dietary variety, physical activity, and self-care behavior in patients with diabetes. This study included outpatients with diabetes using insulin who presented at the Department of Diabetes and Metabolism of the Ise Red Cross Hospital. Before initiating flash glucose monitoring and 12 weeks after its initiation, blood glucose-related parameters were assessed and self-administered questionnaires were completed (Dietary Variety Score (DVS), the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities Measure (SDSCA), and the Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire (DTSQ)) and compared between the two time points. We analyzed 42 patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus and 48 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. In patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, but not type 1 diabetes mellitus, there was an increase in moderate/high category scores for IPAQ (P < 0.001) and for treatment satisfaction reported via DTSQ. Furthermore, in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, the glycemic excursion index improved significantly and HbA1c decreased significantly (from 7.7 (1.2) to 7.4 (0.8), P = 0.025). Results showed that standard deviation and mean amplitude of glycemic excursions significantly decreased in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (from 71.2 (20.4) to 66.2 (17.5), P = 0.033 and from 124.6 (31.9) to 108.1 (28.4), P < 0.001, respectively). Flash glucose monitoring is a useful tool to improve physical activity in patients with type 2 diabetes.