Real-World Hypoglycemia Avoidance with a Continuous Glucose Monitoring System's Predictive Low Glucose Alert

Programmable and fixed auditory and/or vibratory threshold alerts are essential features of real-time continuous glucose monitoring (rtCGM) systems that provide users time to intervene before the onset of clinical hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia. A sixth-generation rtCGM system from Dexcom, Inc. (G6) includes a new alert that is triggered when an algorithm predicts that an estimated glucose value ≤55 mg/dL will occur within 20 min, allowing users more time to act to avoid hypoglycemia. We examined whether this predictive low glucose alert provided added benefit to traditional low threshold alerts.

We analyzed glucose values from an anonymized sample of 1424 patients who transitioned to G6 from the preceding fifth-generation system (G5) with no predictive alert. Users with the low threshold alert setting of 70 or 80 mg/dL were evaluated separately. Receiver users, those who disabled the predictive low glucose alert, or those with <30 days of data immediately before or after the transition to G6 were excluded.

Percent time <54, ≤55, <70, and >250 mg/dL fell significantly after the transition to G6, independent of low threshold alert setting. Time in range improved for G6 users with a low threshold alert setting of 70 mg/dL.

Advance warning provided by predictive low glucose alerts may further reduce hypoglycemia among rtCGM-experienced users.