Hypoglycemia During Hospitalization Linked to Higher Mortality Risk
June 29, 2009 (Brigham and Women's) - Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) found that diabetics hospitalized for non-critical illnesses who develop hypoglycemia during hospitalization have an increased likelihood of remaining hospitalized longer and a greater risk of mortality both during and after hospitalization. This research appears in the July 2009 issue of Diabetes Care.Previous research showed an increased risk of mortality, seizures and coma in patients who, while admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), developed hypoglycemia. "Ours is the first study to examine mortality risks for hospitalized diabetes patients outside of a critical care setting," said Alexander Turchin, MD, of the Endocrinology Department at BWH. "This is crucial because a majority of hospitalized diabetics are treated on the general ward rather than the ICU."
Researchers examined the medical records of more than 2,500 diabetics admitted to the general ward of a teaching hospital. They studied the association between the number and severity of hypoglycemic episodes with inpatient mortality, length of hospital stay and mortality within one year of discharge.
This study found that for each hospital day with at least one hypoglycemic episode, there was an 85.3 percent increased risk of dying as an inpatient and a 65.8 percent increased risk of dying within one year of discharge. The odds of inpatient death also tripled for every 10 mg/dl decrease in the lowest blood glucose during hospitalization. Additionally, a patient's length of stay increased by 2.5 days for each day spent in the hospital with a hypoglycemic episode.
"Hypoglycemia is common among diabetics admitted to the general ward," said Dr. Turchin. "These findings provide support for considering increased monitoring, more aggressive treatment of infections, and transitioning to a more intensive care setting for diabetic patients who have developed hypoglycemia in the general ward."
The study was funded by grants from the Diabetes Action Research and Education Foundation and the National Library of Medicine.
Comments
I think percentages witho
I think percentages without actual numbers are of little value. 85.3 percent sound like a huge increase, but maybe is is like 5 deaths verses 3 deaths. Mathematics of small numbers could make this report very deceiving. It is know that lows can bring on heart attack and strokes in seniors, so the results of this study would be expected. Giving a person too much insulin causing lows would be a serious problem in any hospital and should be a cause for concern in that hospital's quality control. If the 2,500 patients included diabetics that didn't require insulin, then this study may only be showing that people with more advanced diabetes or have been diabetics longer are at greater risk of death.
This information/warning
This information/warning should be sent to every hospital and every medical school around the country...I would not want to be a victim of this during a trip to a hospital...what recourse would I have? I would not have access to "fixing" my own hypoglycemic episodes....Perhaps family members need to be aware of this issue and be on alert for the patient.
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