Determining insulin pump's impact

AUGUSTA, Ga., Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Using an insulin pump to manage diabetes is assumed to be more convenient than daily injections, but U.S. researchers are checking quality of life.

Dr. Max Stachura and an interdisciplinary Medical College of Georgia research team will measure that impact by studying more than 300 diabetics and their caregivers over the next two years.

"Insulin pump technology is touted to improve flexibility in patients' lives," Stachura said in a statement. "Pumps get them away from multiple daily injections and a lot of the restrictions of diabetes. We want to know what the impact of that technology is on the patients and those around them."

In the first year of the study, the research team will study 80 people -- 40 diabetics, with 20 on a pump and 20 on insulin injections, and their caregivers -- asking them to answer questions about their quality of life, attitudes toward treatment and changes to their lifestyle.

"There is virtually no research to date on how the use of insulin via insulin pump and multiple insulin injections impacts the everyday lives of patients and family members," Stachura said. "We just seem to have assumed that it made a difference, but we do not know this to be the case."