Tandem Diabetes Care, the manufacturer of the t:slim insulin pump, has presented the results of a research study that demonstrated faster training times and fewer errors when using the t:slim pump versus a leading insulin pump.
These data were presented at the 7th Annual Advanced Technologies and Treatments for Diabetes (ATTD) International Conference in Vienna, Austria.
Tandem Diabetes Care president and CEO Kim Blickenstaff noted extensive human factors research went into the development of the t:slim insulin pump’s intuitive touch screen user interface.
"We believe the shorter training times and reduced use errors observed in this study are a testament to the importance of this kind of research in medical device development," Blickenstaff added.
The multi-center study looked at usability differences and training times for seven of the most common tasks performed on an insulin pump. Participants had never used an insulin pump before, and were using multiple daily injections of insulin for their current therapy (n=72). Subjects were randomized to train on either the t:slim insulin pump or the Medtronic® MiniMed® Paradigm Revel insulin pump.
On the first visit of the study, participants were trained by a diabetes educator from the study site. On the second visit, which took place 24 to 48 hours later, participants performed the seven tasks without assistance. Study participants did not have access to the pump between visits. On average, the t:slim pump took 27 percent less time to train than the Revel Pump (17.6 minutes vs. 24.1 minutes).
The same users also experienced 65% fewer task failures (0.8 errors vs. 2.3 errors). A survey was administered at the end of the second visit to evaluate different aspects of the pump and training. Results showed that compared to the Revel Pump, the t:slim Pump used terminology that was easier to understand, had a screen with better contrast, was easier to read, was a better size, was easier to program, and was more enjoyable to use.
In another presentation at ATTD, data was presented from a preliminary analysis of self-reported outcomes of people using the t:slim insulin pump. A subset of t:slim pump users self-reported their HbA1c, a three-month average blood glucose measurement (n=289). t:slim pump users who had previously used a different insulin pump (n=211) saw an HbA1c decrease of 0.2 percentage points (p< 0.001, average t:slim pump use approximately six months). People who had never used an insulin pump before (n=78), reported an HbA1c decrease of 0.9 percentage points (p<0.001, average t:slim pump use approximately five months).
These data were presented as part of the Tandem-sponsored symposium, Optimizing Insulin Pump Use through Human Factors Research, moderated by Dr Timothy Bailey.