Willingness to Pay for CGM survey results

Last year, we asked you to take part in the FIND Willingness to Pay for CGM survey. Here are the results!

Continuous glucose monitoring devices (CGMs) present an innovative and efficient tool for self-monitoring of glucose and have transformed the ability of people living with diabetes and their healthcare providers to manage diabetes. However, currently CGMs are largely unaffordable for people living with diabetes in low and middle-income countries due to their high prices.

Aim of the survey

To assess willingness to pay for continuous glucose monitoring devices in South Africa and Kenya among people living with diabetes.

Study population

An online survey was sent to established diabetes community groups/ associations. It included male and female adults over 18 years and living with either Type 1 diabetes (T1D) or Type 2 diabetes (T2D) or caregivers of people living with T1D or T2D diabetes in the survey.

Study findings: 

• There was an over-representation of respondents from the urban areas of Nairobi and the Eastern region in Kenya and from Gauteng, Western and Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal in South Africa. In Kenya most of the respondents were people living with T2D while in South Africa more than half of the respondents were living with T1D.
  
• In both countries, the respondents were wealthier than the national average and were more likely to have health insurance.
  
• Blood glucose testing and infrequent monitoring at the clinic/hospital were the main ways respondents monitored their blood glucose levels in Kenya, with CGM use remaining marginal in this sample. On the contrary, the use of CGM devices appear significantly higher in South Africa, especially among people living with T1D, according to figure 2.

The respondents on insulin treatment and those living in urban areas had a higher monthly willingness to pay in both countries compared to non-insulin users and respondents

There was a positive correlation between the out-of-pocket expenditure on diabetes supplies and the willingness to pay for CGMs in both countries, with respondents who spent more on monthly diabetes supplies being more willing to spend more on CGMs (Figure 5).

Interestingly, the correlation showed that people prefer to pay less for a CGM compared to their current expenses for diabetes supplies, suggesting that the latter are too high and CGMs may be seen to economize costs, should they be at their preferred price point.

Finally, the results indicate that respondents who tested their blood glucose more than 3 times per day (high frequency testers) were more willing to pay higher prices for the CGMs compared to those who tested fewer than three times . 

Conclusion

Insulin users were more willing to pay for CGMs due to the greater awareness of benefits in glycaemic control and improved care, particularly for T1D in both countries. Consequently, high frequency testers and people with high out of pocket expenditure on their current diabetes supplies, were willing to pay more for CGMs in both countries.

Lowering CGM prices could pave the way for these devices to be considered essential benefits, fostering improved diabetes management and overall healthcare outcomes.

Want to find out more? Visit https://www.finddx.org/

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