Frequency of Hypoglycemia in Insulin-Treated Patients of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Objective: Our study was designed to explore the frequency of hypoglycemia events in type 2 diabetic patients. We further aimed to correlate the hypoglycemia events with treatment regimes and diabetes duration. Place and Duration: Mayo Hospital Endocrine Outpatient Department. From 1-04-2022 to 30-06-2022. Study type: Clinical based study Methodology: We used the already tested questionnaire from the American Diabetes Association and The Endocrine Society to collect the relevant information. The questionnaire was translated into the local language to facilitate the interview. Copies of the questionnaire were distributed to 1000 patients at the study site. The questionnaire was based on socio-demographic and clinical information including gender, age, duration of diabetes, treatment, frequency of hypoglycemia events, and symptoms. Chi-square was used to analyze the association of risk factors. While odd ratios were also computed at a 95% confidence interval. P-value <0.05 was considered for statistical significance. Results: Total of 360 cases T2DM had hypoglycemic events with a prevalence of 36%. The mean age of patients was reported as 51 years. A total of 200 cases were found in the mentioned age group with a 55.56% prevalence. Elderly age patients were also the secondary target of hypoglycemia with a prevalence ratio of 27.78%. Out of these 360 patients, 320 (86.11%) had mild to moderate hypoglycemia with symptoms of eye tarnishing, tremors, numbness of the tongue, and drowsiness while 15% of cases lost their consciousness and were categorized as severe events of hypoglycemia. Conclusion: The study concluded on a note that insulin-treated patients should be aware of the hypoglycemia events because in these cases the risk is comparatively high than in others. Keywords: Diabetes mellitus, Insulin, Hypoglycemia

Profile of Hypoglycemia Incidence in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients with Sulfonylurea Therapy

“…Among the patients surveyed in this study, the leading cause reported for symptomatic hypoglycemia was forgetting to eat, constituting 48.39% of the cases. This result aligns with other research studies conducted by Samya et al (2019) and Shabbir et al (2022), both indicating that the most common cause of hypoglycemia is forgetting to eat, with a percentage of 89.3% [22], [28]. According to patients, most symptomatic hypoglycemic events occurred at unpredictable times (45.16%), followed by daytime (32.26%), and morning (16.13%).…”

“…Among the patients included in the study, those residing in Surabaya exhibited the highest percentage of symptomatic hypoglycemia, accounting for 58.06% of cases. This result is quite different when compared to two different studies, one conducted in a rural area with a prevalence of hypoglycemia at 57.44% [28], and another in an urban area, specifically at Mayo Hospital endocrine, with a prevalence of hypoglycemia in patients with Oral Antidiabetic Drugs (OAD) therapy at 26.39% [22]. According to the author's assumption, this disparity could be due to differences in sample size, where the study conducted at Mayo Hospital involved 360 individuals, allowing for a better distribution of data.…”

“…Data from that study indicated that patients aged ≥75 years experienced 2.3 events/100 person-years, compared to 1.3 events/100 person-years in patients aged 65-74 years, and 0.9 events/100 person-years in patients aged 45-64 years and 18-44 years [21]. However, in another study conducted at Mayo Hospital, data showed that the age group 40-60 years is more vulnerable to hypoglycemia, with a prevalence of 55.56%, while the older age group has a prevalence of 27.78% [22]. These results align with the findings of this study.…”