AbstractPDF
Abstract
Background: American studies have shown positive effects of Blood Glucose Awareness Training (BGAT) on the recognition of hypoglycaemia. We evaluated the effects of BGAT among Dutch patients, and compared individual training with training in the original group format.
Methods: Fifty-nine type 1 diabetes patients participated
in BGAT in either a group (n=37) or an individual (n=22)
setting. Before and one year after training they performed up to 70 measurements, two to four a day, at home on a handheld computer. During each measurement they estimated their blood glucose (BG), indicated whether they would be participating in traffic and raised their BG on the basis of their estimation, and then measured their BG. The incidence of severe hypoglycaemia and traffic accidents was also assessed.
Results: BGAT had positive effects on hypoglycaemic
awareness, decisions not to drive and to raise the blood
glucose during hypoglycaemia, severe hypoglycaemic
episodes and traffic accidents. The accuracy of BG estimations only improved after group training, while after individual training patients tended to measure more or more extremely high BG values.
Conclusion: The training improved awareness of hypoglycaemia, and seems worthy of implementation in the Netherlands.
