With more patients using intensive insulin therapy regimens, Canadian researchers compared continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion, or pump therapy, to multiple daily insulin injections to identify any differences in glucose control, hypoglycemia and quality of life.

They enrolled 27 patients with type 1 diabetes, who were randomly assigned to pump or injection therapy. HbA1c levels and reports of hypoglycemic events were recorded monthly for nine months. At the end of the nine-month study, the subjects were given the Diabetes Quality of Life assessment test.

Both groups achieved a significant decrease in HbA1c; there was no significant difference between one therapy and the other in HbA1c reductions. The researchers also found no significant differences in hypoglycemic events or quality of life. They concluded that the choice of intensive insulin therapy should be a matter of patient preference, consistent with lifestyle.

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