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World J Diabetes. Jun 15, 2021; 12(6): 780-785
Published online Jun 15, 2021. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v12.i6.780
Effect of COVID-19 on management of type 1 diabetes: Pushing the boundaries of telemedical healthcare
Ines Bilic Curcic, Maja Cigrovski Berkovic, Tomislav Kizivat, Silvija Canecki Varzic, Robert Smolic, Martina Smolic
Ines Bilic Curcic, Silvija Canecki Varzic, Department of Endocrinology, University Hospital Osijek, Osijek 31000, Croatia
Ines Bilic Curcic, Martina Smolic, Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine Osijek, Osijek 31000, Croatia
Maja Cigrovski Berkovic, Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes, Metabolism and Clinical Pharmacology, University Hospital Dubrava, Zagreb 10000, Croatia
Maja Cigrovski Berkovic, Department of Kinesiological Anthropology and Methodology, Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Zagreb, Zagreb 10000, Croatia
Tomislav Kizivat, Clinical Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Radiation Protection, University Hospital Osijek, Osijek 31000, Croatia
Tomislav Kizivat, Department of Nuclear Medicine and Oncology, Faculty of Medicine Osijek, Osijek 31000, Croatia
Silvija Canecki Varzic, Department of Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, and History, Faculty of Medicine Osijek, Osijek 31000, Croatia
Robert Smolic, Department of Pathophysiology, Faculty of Medicine Osijek, Osijek 31000, Croatia
Robert Smolic, Department of Pathophysiology, Physiology and Immunology, Faculty of Dental Medicine and Health, Osijek 31000, Croatia
Martina Smolic, Department of Pharmacology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Dental Medicine and Health, Osijek 31000, Croatia
Author contributions: Bilic Curcic I, Smolic M, and Smolic R were responsible for the concept and design; Bilic Curcic I, Cigrovski Berkovic M were responsible for drafting the manuscript; Kizivat T was responsible for visualizations; Smolic M, Smolic R, Kizivat T, and Canecki Varzic S were responsible for critical revision of the manuscript.
Supported by Ines Bilić-Ćurčić, No. ZUP2018-90.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no conflict of interest associated with the senior author or other coauthors.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Martina Smolic, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department for Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine Osijek, J Huttlera 4, Osijek 31000, Croatia. martina.smolic@mefos.hr
Received: January 13, 2021
Peer-review started: January 13, 2021
First decision: April 20, 2021
Revised: April 23, 2021
Accepted: May 19, 2021
Article in press: May 19, 2021
Published online: June 15, 2021
Processing time: 141 Days and 15.9 Hours
Abstract

The new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic posed a great burden on health care systems worldwide and is an enormous and real obstacle in providing needed health care to patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes. Parallel to COVID-19, there have been great advances in technology used for management of type 1 diabetes, primarily insulin pumps, sensors, integrated and closed loop systems, ambulatory glucose profile software, and smart phone apps providing necessary essentials for telemedicine implementation right at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of these remote interventions are reassuring in terms of glycemic management and hemoglobin A1c reductions. However, data on long-term outcomes and cost reductions are missing as well as proper technical infrastructure and government health policy support.

Keywords: Diabetes management; Telemedicine; COVID-19; Diabetes type 1

Core Tip: Mortality and morbidity rates increased during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic partially due to disruption in health care delivery. The implementation of telemedicine imposes itself as a logical solution given technical devices and apps already available in the management of type 1 diabetes. Presently available data are scarce but encouraging regarding glycemic control in long standing type 1 diabetes and new onset type 1 diabetes and minimizing acute complications.