Prednisolone predominantly causes hyperglycemia in the afternoon and evening. Treatment of prednisolone-induced hyperglycemia should be targeted at this time period.

Traditional finger-prick BGL monitoring provides a reasonable approximation of mean daily glucose concentration in the majority of hospitalized patients receiving BBI but underestimates the prevalence of postprandial hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia.

Under routine clinical conditions, BBI is effective and safe across a range of patients and appears to be superior to SSI. Clinical improvements reflected those seen in a strict formal study setting.

Hospitalised patients taking prednisolone had substantial afternoon and evening hyperglycaemia despite receiving BBI via a protocol for inpatient hyperglycaemia. Specific insulin regimens for prednisolone-induced hyperglycaemia are needed that recommend more insulin during this time period.

We have assessed whether glucose concentration and patient outcome are related in hospitalised patients when glycaemia is quantified in detail. Continuous glucose monitoring was performed on 47 consecutive subjects with an acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Length of hospital stay increased by 10% for each mmol/L increase in mean glucose (P = 0.01). In a multivariable analysis, mean glucose was independently associated with length of hospital stay (P = 0.02). These data add weight to evidence that hyperglycaemia may adversely affect patient outcomes in hospitalised patients.