Can a wearable sensor be a game-changer for type 2 diabetes care?

Liggins Institute health economist Hui Yee Yeo is gearing up for her part in a research project exploring the role of continuous glucose monitoring in helping people manage type 2 diabetes.

The randomised clinical trial, led by Dr Tim Salmond at Mātai Medical Research Institute in Gisborne, will investigate whether a wearable sensor, which tracks blood sugar levels 24/7 and can provide real-time data and alerts, will improve health outcomes.

The study focuses on people in Tairāwhiti, where rates of type 2 diabetes are high and the population is largely Māori.

The participants are already enrolled in a diabetes self-management education programme. The trial will test whether adding continuous glucose monitoring leads to better health outcomes than education alone.

Salmond and his collaborators, including researchers and clinicians from the University of Otago, were awarded $260,000 over three years by the Health Research Council starting in 2026.

Yeo’s role is to assess whether the technology represents good value for the health system.

“I will be looking at both health outcomes and healthcare resource use, including whether improved glucose control can reduce diabetes complications and ultimately generate long-term savings for the health system,” she says.

Glucose monitors are expensive – historically costing several thousand dollars a year. Although the Government started funding the devices for type 1 diabetes patients in late 2024, people with type 2 aren’t eligible. 

On the other hand, treating patients with complications from diabetes is also expensive. Evidence consistently shows reducing blood sugar is key to preventing or delaying serious disease.

“If continuous glucose monitoring is shown to be cost-effective for people with type 2 diabetes, the next step would be to build the case to government and health authorities for funding the device for a wider population, or potentially rolling it out nationally,” Yeo says.

“What makes the project particularly exciting is its strong community focus and relevance for groups who are often underserved by traditional models of care. The emphasis on self-management aligns closely with broader goals of improving equity and supporting sustainable, patient-centred healthcare in Aotearoa.”

Diabetes prevalence is rising rapidly in New Zealand. Te Whatu Ora figures show the number of people with diabetes rose by almost 40 percent to more than 300,000 in the three years to 2024. At that rate, more than half a million people could have diabetes by 2040, according to Heather Verry, chief executive of Diabetes New Zealand.

Māori and Pacific peoples are around three times more likely than other New Zealanders to have type 2 diabetes, which is linked to higher risks of heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, blindness, and limb amputation.

As well as looking at blood sugar levels in the two groups of participants, the study will also compare changes in activity levels and diet, sleep, stress, productivity, fat stores, fitness, and blood markers.

Liggins Institute director Professor Justin O'Sullivan says involving health economists early in the development phase of research projects like Salmond's is important.

"Yeo’s health economic analysis will help researchers explain, in clear terms, whether continuous glucose monitors are practical to use for people with type 2 diabetes and what difference they could make across New Zealand’s health system," O'Sullivan says.

"This matters because almost 5 percent of New Zealanders have type 2 diabetes now, and that number is expected to rise sharply over the next 20 years."

Yeo hopes she can start work on the project later this year, pending separate funding approval from Pūtahi Manawa, a national Centre of Research Excellence.