AGP Report: The EKG of Glucose Management? Latest endorsement from American Diabetes Association could pave way for more standard presentation of blood glucose data

Wider use of Ambulatory Glucose Profile, developed by International Diabetes Center, could help clinicians and patients use technology more effectively

MINNEAPOLIS – In its recommendations for continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) clinical targets recently published in Diabetes Care, the American Diabetes Association and seven other diabetes associations around the world endorsed the value of Ambulatory Glucose Profile (AGP). It’s a standardized report to help patients and clinicians better interpret CGM data and could inform diabetes care like the EKG has done for cardiac care, according to its developers at the International Diabetes Center.

“The rise of continuous glucose monitors offers a major opportunity for managing diabetes. The data tell us these devices have great potential to help patients,” said Richard M. Bergenstal, MD, executive director of the IDC, part of HealthPartners Institute. “Now that we have consensus on specific glucose targets, CGM metrics and the need for a consistent way to interpret data, clinicians and patients can feel more confident about how to harness that potential.”

Continuous Glucose Monitoring Targets

These monitors help track patients’ glucose levels throughout the day, eliminating the need for inconvenient and uncomfortable finger pricks that were traditionally required of patients.

The latest guidelines in the international consensus report clarify the ideal range of healthy glucose levels (70-180 mg/dL) as well as the amount of time patients’ glucose levels should fall within that range each day. For patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, it is recommended they strive to have more than 16 hours and 48 min per day within the healthy blood glucose range. In addition, the new guidelines recommend that type 1 and type 2 patients do not drop below the healthy blood glucose range for more than 1 hour each day.

Poorly managed blood glucose levels can lead to kidney, eye and nerve damage, and other major health complications.

AGP, the New Standard

The complex data from these devices should be presented to patients and clinicians in a consistent way, the report recommends, highlighting the value of what has become the industry standard Ambulatory Glucose Profile. It’s currently used by 14 companies, providing patients and clinicians a single page glucose report. It incorporates glucose data from several weeks into a single profile graph. This summarized profile makes it easy to visualize and interpret glucose patterns, shows how often glucose readings are within target range as well as the percentage of time patients spend in hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia. A 2014 study showed that using the AGP reports could save 4 to 19 minutes per patient visit.

“While it is said that CGM has the potential to transform diabetes care,” Bergenstal added, “this will only happen if the CGM data is standardized and organized in a way to help patients and health care professionals use the data to make improvements glucose management. We hope the AGP Report helps facilitate this clinical decision making process.”