Study design (if review, criteria of inclusion for studies)
Systematic literature review
Participants
Prospective studies published in English, Portuguese and Spanish from 2002 to 2014. Patients with cystic fibrosis before the diabetes mellitus phase
Interventions
Insulin
Outcome measures
Weight parameters, body mass index and pulmonary function
Main results
Eight articles were identified that included 180 patients undergoing insulin use. Sample size ranged from 4 to 54 patients, with a mean age ranging from 12.4 to 28 years. The type of follow-up, time of insulin use, the dose and implementation schedule were very heterogeneous between studies.
Authors' conclusions
There are theoretical reasons to believe that insulin has a beneficial effect in the studied population. The different methods and populations assessed in the studies do not allow us to state whether early insulin therapy should or should not be carried out in patients with cystic fibrosis prior to the diagnosis of diabetes. Therefore, studies with larger samples and insulin use standardization are required.