- Design
- Randomised controlled trial, 26 weeks, 22 primary care practices
- Population
- 283 adults with type 2 diabetes not treated with insulin
- Primary outcome
- HbA1c at 26 weeks
- Effect
- 7.2% vs 8.0%; adjusted difference -0.9 points (95% CI -1.1 to -0.6)
The CONNECT trial, published in NEJM on 14 October 2026, randomised 283 adults with type 2 diabetes who were not taking insulin, across 22 US primary care practices, to continuous glucose monitoring or routine care for 26 weeks. Mean HbA1c at entry was about 8.8%.
HbA1c fell to 7.2% with monitoring and 8.0% with routine care, an adjusted difference of -0.9 percentage points (95% CI -1.1 to -0.6). Time in range was 21 points higher with monitoring. Time below range was slightly lower, and there was no severe hypoglycaemia in either group.
This extends the case for sensors beyond insulin users, and the effect is clinically meaningful. But the trial was short, funded by a sensor manufacturer and run in people with fairly high HbA1c; it does not show whether the benefit lasts or reduces complications. For a reader outside diabetes care, the practical point is that sensors are no longer only for insulin-treated patients.
- Consider a glucose sensor for a motivated patient with type 2 diabetes above target on oral or non-insulin injectable drugs.
- Pair any sensor with a plan for who reviews the data and acts on it.
- Expect the biggest gain in people starting well above target; trial entry HbA1c averaged 8.8%.
- Sensor cost is a barrier in India and elsewhere; weigh it against intensifying drug treatment.
Why it matters
It challenges the common rule that sensors are worth funding only once insulin starts.
Don't overread it
A 26-week, manufacturer-funded trial with HbA1c as the endpoint — no data on durability or complications.
The statistics, in plain English
A 0.9-point HbA1c difference with a confidence interval of -1.1 to -0.6 is both statistically robust and large enough to matter, similar to adding a drug. It is measured at six months only.
Read the rest in the app
You have read your two free briefings this month. The app carries all 27 specialties, every morning, free — and this finding is waiting in it.
Scan to keep reading on your phone. No account needed to start.
Tomorrow morning, before your first patient
One edition a day for top clinical updates, written by the desk, every claim tied to its paper. Six minutes.
Get the app — free