Adults with type 1 diabetes who use continuous glucose monitoring devices to control their blood sugar more effectively compared to the old-fashioned method of pricking their fingers throughout the day can gain better control over their disease, according to a new study.

Continuous glucose monitoring systems, or GGM, measure blood glucose level readings every few minutes and using the data obtained, patients can adjust their insulin injections as needed. A small sensor sounds an alarm if blood sugar rises or falls to dangerous levels.

The old-fashioned-method of blood sugar monitoring involves pricking a finger for blood and testing glucose levels using a separate device.

The study, published online Monday by the New England Journal of Medicine, included 322 adults and children – between the ages of 8 to 72, with Type I diabetes. The initial results of the multicenter clinical trial paid for by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation were presented Monday during the European Association for the Study of Diabetes’ annual meeting in Rome.

Some patients were assigned to a control group using standard blood sugar monitoring, which involves manually pricking a finger for blood and testing glucose levels using a separate meter. Others were assigned to a control group using a continuous glucose monitoring device which is attached to the body using a tiny catheter that measures blood glucose levels and produces readings every few minutes.

Researchers monitored the patients’ A1c levels (glycated haemoglobin or HbA1c), an average of a patient’s blood sugar levels over the past several months. Patients were put into one of three age groups - 8 to 14 years, 15 to 24 years and 25 years or older. An A1c goal for an adult with diabetes is below 7%, and the aim for children is below 7.5%-8%, the researchers found.

The adults aged 25 and older had the most significantly improved control of blood sugar, the researchers found. Their A1c levels decreased during the study period of 26 weeks by an average of 0.53% compared with control patients. The study showed little effect of continuous glucose monitoring in patients aged 8 to 15 compared to patients using the traditional method of pricking a finger. In the other age groups, patients using continuous glucose monitoring fared no better than patients using the traditional method.

“One important practical implication is that this is the first study to definitively provide good evidence of the benefit of continuous glucose monitoring — the type of evidence needed for insurers to agree to pay for it,” says study author Roy Beck, executive director of the Jaeb Center for Health Research in Tampa.

Doctors and manufacturers are trying to persuade more insurance companies to pay for the devices, which cost about $500 to $1,000. The study was funded by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, a New York-based nonprofit research group.

Diabetes is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States. There are some 21 million Americans living with this disease, with 6.2 million not even knowing that they have it. An estimated 8 percent of people in the U.S. have type-2 diabetes, which can be associated with obesity and lack of exercise. Diabetes risk factors include being overweight, sedentary, a family history of diabetes.