Comparison of Software Packages for the Analysis of Continuous Glucose Monitoring Data

The use of Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) systems in the management of diabetes is rapidly growing and represents an eligible technology to overcome the limitations of self-monitoring of blood glucose. However, not complete standardization of the CGM data analyses methodologies is limiting the potential of these devices. In the last few years, different software solutions have been proposed to find a common pattern for making CGM data analysis results more interpretable and reproducible. The aim of this study was to compare two of the newest open-source software packages available for CGM data analysis, GLU and iglu. To perform the comparison, CGM data of 9 subjects with type 1 diabetes coming from the open D1NAMO dataset have been analyzed with both software. Metrics available both in GLU and iglu have been compared, namely: Area Under the Curve (AUC), Time Above Range (TAR), Time Below Range (TBR), Time in Range (TIR) and Mean Absolute Deviation (MAD). Mean values for GLU and iglu were: AUC (170 ± 23 vs. 165 ± 27 mg•dl-1); TAR (40 ± 17 vs. 38 ± 21 %); TBR (6 ± 7 % in both); TIR (54 ± 18 vs. 60 ± 21 %), MAD (43 ± 20 vs. 67 ± 28 mg•dl-1). Only MAD was found statistically different between GLU and iglu. In conclusion, this comparison provided an overview of the graphical and computational aspects in CGM analysis provided by GLU and iglu software packages, which could be useful to researchers and clinicians to find a transparent and consistent way of interpreting CGM data.