Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Mizan-Tepi University, Mizan Teferi, Ethiopia.
Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2021 Oct 8;12:684570. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2021.684570. eCollection 2021.
Glycemic control is a valuable goal for people with diabetes; however, the greatest challenge to achieving tight glycemic control is hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemic events are probably common in type 1 diabetes; however, little is known about hypoglycemia in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the prevalence and the associated factors of hypoglycemia among type 1 diabetes (T1D) patients after insulin use at Metu Karl Referral Hospital in southwest Ethiopia.
A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 242 T1D patients at Metu Karl Referral Hospital in southwest Ethiopia. The prevalence of hypoglycemia was assessed by a structured questionnaire through a face-to-face interview in which all the possible symptoms of hypoglycemia were included. If the patients reported that they had experienced the symptoms at least two times in a month and the symptoms were relieved upon consuming sugar/candy/honey, such cases were considered to have had a hypoglycemic episode. Binary logistic regression analysis was done to identify the factors associated with the occurrence of hypoglycemia.
Out of 242 T1D patients interviewed, 114 (47.1%) had self-reported hypoglycemia. The most reported symptom of hypoglycemia was sweating (91.7%), followed by dizziness and hunger and nausea with a prevalence of 24.8 and 14.5%, respectively. The study also found that educational level with reading and writing skills up to primary level [adjusted odds ratio, AOR = 0.41; 95% confidence interval, CI (0.19-0.88)] and secondary level and above [AOR = 0.32, 95% CI (0.14-0.70)], poor knowledge of diabetes [AOR = 2.26, 95% CI (1.06-4.84)], good knowledge of insulin self-administration [AOR = 0.54, 95% CI (0.30-0.99)], and duration of insulin use ≥5 years [AOR = 3.93, 95% CI (1.44-10.7)] were factors associated with hypoglycemia.
The prevalence of hypoglycemia was found remarkable. We can conclude that hypoglycemia is of public health importance among T1D patients. Since the study assesses hypoglycemia after insulin injection, this prevalence may be due to the poor practice of insulin injection. Therefore, imparting education on the proper technique of insulin administration should be considered at each follow-up visit.
血糖控制对于糖尿病患者来说是一个有价值的目标；然而，实现严格血糖控制的最大挑战是低血糖。低血糖事件在 1 型糖尿病患者中可能很常见；然而，关于埃塞俄比亚的低血糖情况知之甚少。因此，本研究旨在评估在使用胰岛素后，埃塞俄比亚西南部梅图卡尔转诊医院 1 型糖尿病 (T1D) 患者的低血糖发生率及其相关因素。
这是一项在埃塞俄比亚西南部梅图卡尔转诊医院进行的基于医院的横断面研究。通过面对面访谈使用结构化问卷评估低血糖的发生率，其中包括所有可能的低血糖症状。如果患者报告他们在一个月内至少有两次出现过这些症状，并且症状在食用糖/糖果/蜂蜜后得到缓解，这种情况被认为发生了低血糖事件。采用二元逻辑回归分析来确定与低血糖发生相关的因素。
在接受访谈的 242 名 T1D 患者中，有 114 名（47.1%）患者报告有低血糖。低血糖最常见的症状是出汗（91.7%），其次是头晕、饥饿和恶心，其发生率分别为 24.8%和 14.5%。研究还发现，读写能力达到小学水平的教育程度[调整后的优势比，AOR=0.41；95%置信区间，CI（0.19-0.88)]和中学及以上水平[AOR=0.32，95% CI（0.14-0.70)]，糖尿病知识差[AOR=2.26，95% CI（1.06-4.84)]，胰岛素自我管理知识良好[AOR=0.54，95% CI（0.30-0.99)]，以及胰岛素使用时间≥5 年[AOR=3.93，95% CI（1.44-10.7)]是与低血糖相关的因素。
低血糖的发生率很高。我们可以得出结论，低血糖是 T1D 患者公共卫生的重要问题。由于该研究评估了胰岛素注射后的低血糖情况，因此这种发生率可能是由于胰岛素注射技术不佳所致。因此，应在每次随访时考虑提供关于胰岛素使用正确技术的教育。
