Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2026 ;17
1830980
Introduction: This research intended to systematically evaluate the impact of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) on the emotional well-being of individuals with type 2 diabetes. It focused on the effects of CGM in four distinct patient-reported outcome domains: diabetes distress (measured by the diabetes distress scale [DDS]), treatment satisfaction (diabetes treatment satisfaction questionnaire [DTSQ]), psychological well-being (world health organization-5 well-being index [WHO-5]), and health-related quality of life (EuroQol five-dimensional questionnaire [EQ-5D]).
Methods: PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane Library were retrieved from inception until April 2026 to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing CGM with self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG). After two researchers independently performed literature screening, data extraction, and quality assessment, meta-analysis was conducted using Stata 16.0.
Results: A total of 9 RCTs comprising 1,453 individuals were included. All five studies reporting treatment satisfaction (DTSQ) showed a direction of effect favoring CGM over SMBG, although the magnitude of improvement varied widely and heterogeneity was extremely high (I²=98.9%), precluding a meaningful single summary estimate. However, no statistically significant differences were observed between the two groups in terms of diabetes distress (DDS) [standardized mean difference (SMD)=-0.25, 95% confidence interval (CI) (-0.98, 0.17)], psychological well-being (WHO-5) [SMD = 0.08, 95% CI (-0.09, 0.25)], or health-related quality of life (EQ-5D) [SMD = 0.22, 95% CI (-0.20, 0.64)].
Conclusion: Current evidence indicates that CGM may improve treatment satisfaction in individuals with type 2 diabetes, although this finding is limited by very high heterogeneity. Its effects on alleviating diabetes distress, improving psychological well-being, and enhancing health-related quality of life remain unclear and should be further investigated.
Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD42025634725.
Keywords: Self-monitoring of blood glucose; continuous glucose monitoring; health-related quality of life; systematic review and meta-analysis; type 2 diabetes