The Effect of Retraining on Treatment Success, Quality of Life, and Metabolic Parameters in Patients with Type 1 Diabetes Using an Insulin Pump.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of insulin pump user retraining on treatment success, quality of life, and metabolic parameters of patients with type 1 diabetes using continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 35 subjects participated in this prospective study. All patients were given insulin pump user retraining. Their knowledge level and application skills, metabolic parameters, quality of life, and satisfaction from treatment were evaluated at baseline and after 6 months. RESULTS: There was significant improvement in patients' knowledge and application skills after insulin pump user retraining (self-assessment of user skills: 69.7 ± 11.5 vs. 76.3 ± 11.3, p < 0.001; knowledge level on technical issues: 3.3 ± 1.1 vs. 4.1 ± 1.8, p = 0.003; glucose monitoring: 27.1 ± 5.8 vs. 29.2 ± 5.6, p = 0.006; management of hyperglycemia: 13.1 ± 3.2 vs. 15.7 ± 3.4, p < 0.001; management of pump and infusion site problems: 8.8 ± 2.6 vs. 10.6 ± 2.6, p = 0.001). Hemoglobin (Hb)A1c levels of patients with poor glycemic control improved after retraining (8.61% ± 0.78 vs. 8.23% ± 0.79, p = 0.02). However, no significant improvement in quality of life and treatment satisfaction parameters were found. CONCLUSION: Management of type 1 diabetes in insulin pump users can be significantly improved by retraining. Even a basic short-term retraining program helps patients to increase their knowledge level and ability to more effectively use the insulin pump. The fact that retraining significantly improves glycemic parameters in patients with poor metabolic control indicates that priority should be given to this group of patients. Further studies with individualized training programs in larger sample sizes with long-term follow-up are needed to establish the importance of retraining and create re-education plans for patients with type 1 diabetes using an insulin pump.