ABSTRACT
Background and aims: Onboarding of the FreeStyle Libre, an intermittently scanned continuous glucose monitoring (isCGM) device, was pre-dominantly conducted in-person prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, onboarding rapidly become virtual due to enforced social distancing restrictions. This audit aimed to determine if onboarding method impacted on glycaemic outcomes and engagement statistics in people living with diabetes (pwD). Method(s): PwD who started FreeStyle Libre between January 2019 and March 2022, had their mode of onboarding recorded and had >=70% data were identified and included within the audit. Glycaemic indices and engagement statistics (previous 90 day averages) were obtained from LibreView (Abbott, USA) three months after the last person was onboarded, and compared using linear models, adjusting for FreeStyle Libre duration, %active (where appropriate), age and sex. Result(s): From 1007 eligible participants (in-person 44% [n = 445];virtual 56% [n = 562]), FreeStyle Libre usage duration was greater for those onboarded in-person vs. virtually (974[891,1101) vs. 420[280,564] days [p < 0.001]). There were no significant differences in glycaemic or engagement indices between in-person and virtual onboarding methods: average glucose (10[9,11]) vs. 10[9,11])mmol/l), %time very-low (<3.0mmol/l, 0[0,1]) vs. 0[0,1]%), %time low (3.0-3.8mmol/ l, 2[1,4] vs. 2[1,4]), %time in range (3.9-10.0mmol/ l, 54[+/-17] vs. 53[+/-19]%), %time high (10.1-13.9mmol/ l, 27[21,31]) vs. 26[21,31]%), %time very-high (>13.9mmol/l, 14[6,24] vs. 15[7,26]%), %active (96[90,100] vs. 94[87,99]%) or scans/day (11[8,15] vs. 10[7,14]). Conclusion(s): There were no differences in glycaemic outcomes or engagement indices between pwD between onboarding methods. Virtual onboarding using online videos for isCGM is as equally effective as face to face.