Measures of glycemic variability and links with psychological functioning.

The goal of this article is to review the recent literature on measures of glycemic variability, links between glycemic variability and psychological functioning, and methods for examining these links. A number of commonly used measures of glycemic variability are reviewed and compared, including recently proposed methods. Frequently used measures of glycemic variability are also discussed in the context of research that uses continuous glucose monitoring for the collection of blood glucose data. The results of previous studies that have examined the link between psychological functioning and glycemic variability within relatively short-term time frames are reviewed. Methods for examining glycemic variability and its link with psychological functioning are discussed so that important research questions can be addressed to aid in understanding the effect of changes in psychological functioning on glycemic variability and vice versa in future research.