Background: The Iron Swords war created stressful circumstances that could negatively impact glycemic control in individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1D).
Objectives: To evaluate changes in continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) metrics in pediatric T1D patients during the war.
Methods: This retrospective study included T1D patients monitored by CGM. Metrics from three selected 2-week periods were compared (before the war, after the war outbreak, and 4 months later). Study variables included time-in-range (70–180 mg/dl; 3.9–10 mmol/L), time-in-tight-range (70–140 mg/dl; 3.9–7.8 mmol/L), time-in-marked-hypoglycemia (< 54 mg/dl; < 3 mmol/liter), and time-in-severe-hyperglycemia (> 250 mg/dl; >13.3 mmol/liter). Patients were treated with either a multiple daily insulin (MDI) regimen or insulin pump, with or without an open-source automated insulin delivery (OS-AID) system.
Results: Data of 99 patients were analyzed (mean age 12.2 ± 4.0 years, mean diabetes duration 4.6 ± 3.9 years, 52.5% males). No significant changes in CGM metrics were observed across the entire cohort at any time point. Patients with higher socioeconomic position (SEP; cluster > 7) had better CGM metrics, with an increase in time-in-tight-range in the lower SEP group and in time-in-severe-hyperglycemia in the higher SEP group (P = 0.003). OS-AID users (n=20) had superior pre-war CGM metrics and maintained stable glycemia during the war, MDI users showed increased time-in-severe-hyperglycemia post-outbreak (P = 0.05).
Conclusions: Throughout the war, children and adolescents with T1D treated with insulin pumps maintained relatively stable glycemic control. Susceptibility to change following the onset of war was influenced by SEP and mode of insulin therapy.