Diabetes Metab J.  2011 Apr;35(2):166-172. 10.4093/dmj.2011.35.2.166.

Increasing Trend in the Number of Severe Hypoglycemia Patients in Korea

• Kim JT
• Oh TJ
• Lee YA
• Bae JH
• Kim HJ
• Jung HS
• Cho YM
• Park KS
• Lim S
• Jang HC
• Lee HK

• KMID: 2281715
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4093/dmj.2011.35.2.166

Abstract

BACKGROUND
To investigate whether the number of subjects with severe hypoglycemia who are brought to a hospital emergency department is increasing and to identify whether there have been changes in the demographic and clinical characteristics of those subjects.
METHODS
We analyzed data from the Emergency Departments of two general hospitals in Seoul, Korea. We included data from all adult subjects with type 2 diabetes who presented to an emergency department with severe hypoglycemia between January 1, 2004 and December 30, 2009.
RESULTS
A total of 740 cases of severe hypoglycemia were identified. The mean subject age was 69+/-12 years, mean duration of diabetes was 13.8+/-9.3 years, and 53.2% of subjects were receiving insulin therapy. We observed a sharp rise in the number of cases between 2006 and 2007. Stages 3-5 chronic kidney disease was diagnosed in 31.5% of subjects, and low C-peptide levels (<0.6 ng/mL) were found in 25.5%. The mean subject age, duration of diabetes, HbA1c level, and renal and insulin secretory function values did not change significantly during the study period. The proportion of glimepiride use increased, while use of gliclazide decreased among sulfonylurea users. Use of insulin analogues increased, while use of NPH/RI decreased among insulin users.
CONCLUSION
We identified a sharp increase in the number of subjects with severe hypoglycemia presenting to an emergency room since 2006. The clinical characteristics of these subjects did not change markedly during the study period. Nationwide studies are warranted to further clarify this epidemic of severe hypoglycemia.

Keyword

Emergency Department; Epidemiology; Severe hypoglycemia

MeSH Terms

Adult
C-Peptide
Emergencies
Gliclazide
Hospitals, General
Humans
Hypoglycemia
Insulin
Korea
Renal Insufficiency, Chronic
Sulfonylurea Compounds
C-Peptide
Gliclazide
Insulin
Sulfonylurea Compounds

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Number of severe hypoglycemia subjects according to age.

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