Background: Several studies have examined the impact of hypoglycemia in diabetic patients. These studies usually have reported relatively worse outcomes with hypoglycemia in diabetics. However, differences in outcomes in type I and II diabetes mellitus (DM) patients with hypoglycemia have not been well examined.
Methods: The objective of this study was to examine differences in outcomes between type I and II diabetic patients with hypoglycemia. A retrospective analysis using Vizient database was performed using ICD-10 codes. All adult patients with hypoglycemia were included in the study. To evaluate for differences in outcomes between type I and II diabetes patients, secondary diagnosis was added to the evaluation.
Results: A total of 16,836 patients were identified with principal diagnosis of hypoglycemia between 2015-2017. Of these, 2515 patients had type I diabetes and 14,321 patients had type II diabetes mellitus. Mortality was not significantly different in the two groups (1.51% in type I DM vs 1.28 % in type II DM; p=0.3941). Length of stay was higher in hypoglycemic patients with type I DM (4.85 ± 10.55 days in type I DM vs. 4.19 ± 6.14 days in type II DM; p=0.0023). Significantly increased ICU admission (19.56% in type I DM vs 12.85% in type II DM) and higher costs ($ 6887 ± 15,590 in type I DM vs 4529 ± 6999 in type II DM; p<0.0001) were noted in patients admitted with hypoglycemia in type I DM patients.
Conclusions: Hypoglycemia is a major complication in both type I and type II DM patients. Hospitalized patients with hypoglycemia in the setting of type I DM have worse outcomes compared to type II DM patients with hypoglycemia.