Carbohydrate counting: how accurate should it be to achieve glycemic control in patients on intensive insulin regimens?

Abstract

Carbohydrate counting is an important meal-planning tool for patients on intensive insulin regimens. Preprandial insulin bolus is adjusted taking into account the carbohydrate content of each meal and the insulin-to-carb ratio of each patient throughout the day. Evidence suggests that accurate carbohydrate counting may have positive effects not only on reducing glycosylated hemoglobin concentration but also on decreasing the incidence of hypoglycemic episodes. Nevertheless, despite its benefits, the efficacy of carbohydrate counting depends on the ability of each patient, or its caregiver, to accurately estimate the carbohydrate content of each meal. Therefore, it is of great importance to understand how accurate should carbohydrate counting be, and the impact of inaccurate carbohydrate counting on the glycemic control of each patient. Within this work, we propose an analytic method that uses the insulin-to-carb ratio and the insulin sensitivity factor, along with the glycemic targets of each patient to calculate the limits of accurate carbohydrate counting, in order to achieve better glycemic control and to reduce hypoglycemic episodes.