Abstract
Background: Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that develops when a person s immune system destroys the beta cells in their pancreas. Beta cells secrete endogenous insulin, a hormone responsible for regulating blood glucose levels. Treatment aims to keep serum blood glucose levels close to physiologically normal similar to that of a non-diabetic person.
Aim: This integrative review examined selected literature regarding hybrid closed-loop systems and evaluated their efficacy on glycaemic control using the time blood glucose serum levels were within the normal range for youth with type 1 diabetes. Time in range was reported as the percentage of time an individual with type 1 diabetes had their blood glucose levels within an optimum range between 3.9 - 10.0 mmol/L or known as the target range.
Methods: An integrative literature review, as described by Whittemore and Knafl (2005) was employed to investigate the phenomenon of interest. A literature search on selected databases, Cumulative Index to Nursing Health Literature (CINAHL), PubMed, Medline and Embase Ovid was conducted to identify relevant quality literature. Quality appraisal was undertaken using Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) (2017) tools matched to the research methodology, followed by data organisation and extraction using JBI tools. A constant comparison method approach, as described by Whittemore and Knafl (2005), was used.
Results: From the sixteen studies all of them revealed that hybrid closed-loop use was beneficial to youth with type 1 diabetes such as an improved glycaemic control, reduced fear of hypoglycaemia, participants spent more time in managing their diabetes and an improvement in their quality of life and sleep.
Conclusion: The main finding from this review was that youth with type 1 diabetes increased their time in range when using a hybrid closed-loop system. This review recommends that youth with type 1 diabetes trial the hybrid closed-loop system to check its effectiveness.