Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism
Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism
5 years ago

Severe hypoglycaemia among patients with type 2 diabetes requiring emergency hospital admission: The Hypoglycaemia In Portugal Observational Study–Emergency Room (HIPOS–ER)

Pedro A. Laires, Ana M. Nogueira, João Conceição, Kimberly Brodovicz, Richard D. Carr, Jorge Dores, Francisco Araújo, Larry Radican
Aims To analyse the prevalence of severe hypoglycaemia in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) treated with antihyperglycaemic agents (AHA) and requiring emergency room (ER) assistance, and to analyse the prevalence according to type of AHA therapy. Methods The present study, the Hypoglycaemia In Portugal Observational Study–Emergency Room (HIPOS–ER), was a cross-sectional, observational, multicentre, nationwide study, with specific hypoglycaemia source data collection. Results Within the study period, a total of 425 706 admissions were recorded in the ERs of participating hospitals. The prevalence of severe hypoglycaemic episodes in patients with T2DM was 0.074%. In all, 238 patients were included, more than half of whom were on insulin-based therapy (55.0%) and a third of whom (31.5%) were on oral secretagogue-based therapy. In 61.2% of patients primary care was the main diabetes care setting. The median patient age was 77.5 years and the mean duration of diabetes was 19 years. Missing a meal or low carbohydrate meal content was the most frequent cause of hypoglycaemia (55.9%) and the most frequent triggers for seeking emergency assistance were pre-syncope (19.2%) and transient loss of consciousness (17.4%). A total of 44.1% of patients were hospitalized for a median of 5.1 days. Patients in the secretagogue group were admitted to hospital more often than patients in the insulin group (70.7% vs 29.0%; P < .001). Nine patients died. Conclusions These findings confirm that severe hypoglycaemia in patients with T2DM requiring ER assistance occurs mainly in those on insulin- and secretagogue-based therapies and is associated with a significant medical burden. Antidiabetic therapy should be individualized to minimize the risk of severe iatrogenic hypoglycaemia, and any intervention to this end should always involve primary care stakeholders.

Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/resolve/doi

DOI: 10.1111/dom.13030

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