Limitations of Continuous Glucose Monitor Usage

Much progress has been made in diabetes treatments since the first dose of insulin was administered in 1921. However, a truly transformational moment in diabetes care occurred when urine testing gave way to capillary blood home glucose monitoring. As improvements were made to these devices, continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) was introduced. The advantages of experiential learnings gleaned from seeing continuous real-time data have been borne out in numerous peer-reviewed journals. Limitations to use of CGM include patient's level of numeracy and literacy, development of alarm fatigue, interfering substances leading to erroneous readings, high rates of discontinuation, and poor reimbursement.