Increasing trend in emergency department visits for hypoglycemia from patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Taiwan.

AIMS

We analyze the time trends of hypoglycemia-related emergency department visits in Taiwan between 2000 and 2010, focusing on type 2 diabetic patients receiving antidiabetic agents.

METHODS

From a national dataset containing longitudinal medical claims of one million persons, we ascertained 4479 hypoglycemia-related emergency department visits from 3184 type 2 diabetic patients for analysis. We used negative binomial regression to calculate the incidence rate ratios (IRRs) for comparing event rates of hypoglycemia-related emergency department visits in different study periods.

RESULTS

Rates of hypoglycemia-related emergency department visits increased 4.8 folds from year 2000 to 2010 (adjusted IRR 4.88, 95% CI 3.94-6.05, P<0.001). Severe hypoglycemia requiring emergency department visits prevailed among women, older patients (≥ 65 years), and those not lived in the urban areas.

CONCLUSIONS

Within a 10-year period, there was a substantial increase in the rates of hypoglycemia-related emergency department visits from type 2 diabetic patients in Taiwan. Appropriate risk management plans should be developed to prevent the occurrence of severe hypoglycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes in Taiwan.