The Link Between "Time In Range" Versus HbA1c and the Presence of Chronic COmplications in Type 1 Diabetes: a Longitudinal Study - The TIRCO Study

Adult subjects (age ≥ 18 years) with T1D were consecutively recruited in three multicenter studies (RESCUE, FUTURE, ALERTT1 studies) organized between September 2014 and 19 November 2021. For the TIRCO study, only the data from patients recruited at the University Hospital of Antwerp were analyzed. Initially, the data from 498 patients were collected. Pregnant patients and patients with beta-cell transplantation were excluded from the study, resulting in the inclusion of 479 patients. Consecutive patients starting CGM were proposed to participate and were included into the study after signing informed consent.

The study population consisted of 445 patients who used Freestyle libre, 21 patients who used CGM in hybrid closed loop and 13 patients who used Dexcom G4 and G6, resulting in a total of 479 patients.

In this project, the investigators looked into the link between TIR versus HbA1c and the presence of chronic complications in adults with T1D.

The primary endpoint was to evaluate the link between TIR and the presence of chronic microvascular complications as formulated by the following research question: "What is the clinical significance of a 10% increase of TIR over two years?"

The secondary endpoint was to assess the link between TIR and independent risk factors for micro- and macrovascular complications such as sex, age, BMI, lipids, blood pressure, HbA1c, time in range, mean glucose, diabetes duration, method of insulin administration (MDI or CSII), type of sensor and sensor compliance.