Telehealth Supports Type 1 Diabetes Management Among Pediatric Patients

mHealth Intelligence: Telehealth Supports Type 1 Diabetes Management Among Pediatric Patients

A study published in BMC Pediatrics found that increases in the use of telehealth and continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) likely helped mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on hospitalization frequency, glycemic control, and depression incidence among pediatric type 1 diabetes patients. Researchers examined various factors, including patient characteristics, glycemic control, PHQ-9 depression screening, and CGM utilization, in around 1,600 pediatric type 1 diabetes patients in one-year periods before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The study shows that there was no difference in these factors between the pre-and post-pandemic groups. The researchers surmised that the sharp increase in the use of telehealth may have helped keep these factors the same before and during the pandemic.