An observational study on hypoglycemic events in patients with diabetes mellitus in a tertiary care hospital

Abstract

PURPOSE: Many patients have symptoms of hypoglycemia based on their diet, comorbidities, and medications. Some are unaware of symptoms and most ignore them considering it as common consequence of diabetic treatment. The main purpose of our study is to provide awareness and identify the cause of hypoglycemia.

METHODS: It is a retrospective-prospective observational study. Total 100 subjects were included based on our inclusion and exclusion criteria.

RESULTS: In our study, out of 100 participants  -72 (72%) were retrospective and 28 (28%) were prospective. More males than females comprised the study and most of the study subjects 31 (31%) were between the age of 65-75 years and 92 (66.66%) have mild hypoglycemia, with highest number of participants being hypoglycemic at 2am-3am. Agents causing drug induced hypoglycemia were – 72 episodes with Insulin anlagoues in 51 participants and 54 episodes in 42 participants with oral hypoglycemic agents. Most hypoglycemic episodes observed in this study were with agents Insulin Isophane (42%) and Glibenclamide (42%) respectively.

CONCLUSION: In our study, 18.1% were prone to hypoglycemia during 2am-3am followed by 15.2% during 6am-7am period during the day. So careful observation is required during these time periods and also, 78.6% patients were unaware of hypoglycemia although they experienced it frequently. To resolve this problem, we provided Patient Information Leaflet (PIL) and counseled them. Individuals receiving Glibenclamide and Insulin isophane need to be monitored regularly due to their higher risk to Hypoglycemia.