HTA report: new devices for the management of glycaemia in young diabetics

The report is developed to answer the question: “Are there economically sustainable new devices to enhance the management of diabetes type I in people aged 0-18 and do they provide better health and quality of life to patients and carers?” The topic of the report is Sensor augmented insulin pump (or SAP for short) which is a convergence of two technologies: continuous insulin infusion and real-time continuous glucose monitoring (CGMS). The evidence on clinical effectiveness and safety has been synthesised by a systematic review of literature while, to describe the patterns of use and expected expenditure of the device we performed a contextual analysis in the regions which took part in the assessment. Although SAP therapy has a lot of theoretical advantages compared to the use of either single-component devices or daily injection of insulin with self-montoring, our researchers were unable to identify any evidence that such advantages were converted into clinical benefits or enhancements in quality of life of young diabetics or their families.