About Diabetes > Time In Range
Time in Range is a relatively new term used within the diabetes community. It describes the percentage of time the blood glucose levels stay within a pre-determined range for people with diabetes. Time in Range provides a more accurate picture of blood glucose over a period of time.
It is recommended to maintain a blood glucose, or glycemic, range of 70mg/dL (low) -180 mg/dL (high) at least 70% of time.1,2
The goal with diabetes management is to increase time spent in this target range and to minimize high and low sugar levels. Doing this can reduce the risk of both immediate and long-term health complications.
A1C is the average of a person’s blood sugars over the past ninety days.
The American Diabetes Association recommends that adults with diabetes should have an A1C less than 7%. This translates to an average blood sugar of 154 mg/dL.2
“What is your A1C?” Are you happy with your A1C?” People living with diabetes are often faced with these questions.
A1C is an average and does not give the full picture. It does not capture many important variables. It also masks the occurrence and frequency of dangerous highs and lows.
Time in Range provides additional insights beyond A1C. Time in Range provides visibility into how much time a person spends in high and low glucose levels throughout the day. It identifies day-to-day changes in blood sugar and helps people see how much time they’re spending in that healthy, feel-good range.
People with similar A1C’s, might have very different blood glucose levels.
Managing blood sugar by focusing on the time spent “in range” versus the overall average can improve quality of life because it can help reduce time spent worrying.
Unpredictable glucose levels have a significant negative impact on daily life for 40% of people using multiple daily injections (MDI) to manage their diabetes.4
In 2019, an international panel of clinicians, researchers, and people with diabetes met and established these goals:6
This gave people living with diabetes and healthcare professionals a tool to measure what diabetes management looks like and a target to strive for.
Ideal Time in Range can vary from one person to another depending on factors such as medication, diabetes type, age, and health.
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1. Time In Range – https://diatribe.org/time-range Accessed 9 February 2021.
2. American Diabetes Association (2019). Standards of medical care in diabetes—2019. Diabetes Care, 42(Suppl 1): S61-S70.
3. Nicolucci A, Kovacs Burns K, et al. Research: Educational and Psychological Issues Diabetes Attitudes, Wishes and Needs second study. Diabet Med. 2013;30:767–777.
4. Kaufman FR, Gibson LC, Halvorson M, et al. A pilot study of the continuous glucose monitoring system. Diabetes Care. 2001;24(12):2030-2034.
5. Cohen O, et al. ePoster presented at: 11th International Conference on Advanced Technologies & Treatments for Diabetes; February, 2018; Vienna, Austria. Abstract ATTD8-0288.
6. Tadej Battelino, Thomas Danne, Richard M. Bergenstal et al. Clinical Targets for Continuous Glucose Monitoring Data Interpretation: Recommendations from the International Consensus on Time-in-Range” in Diabetes Care 2019 Aug; 42(8): 1593-1603.