AlTowayan Adel, Alharbi Seetah, Aldehami Maryam, Albahli Rand, Alnafessah Sama, Alharbi Abeer M
Endocrinology and Diabetes, King Fahad Specialist Hospital, Buraidah, SAU.
Internal Medicine, King Fahad Specialist Hospital, Buraidah, SAU.
Cureus. 2023 Feb 22;15(2):e35285. doi: 10.7759/cureus.35285. eCollection 2023 Feb.
Background Hypoglycemia has a major impact on patient health and glycemic management during insulin therapy for both type 1 (T1DM) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). It is the rate-limiting complication in diabetes management that prevents stringent glucose control. Objectives To assess the knowledge and awareness about hypoglycemia as a complication of T2D in adults in Al Qassim, Saudi Arabia. Methods This is a cross-sectional study done among type 2 diabetes patients in Al-Qassim, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from January to June 2022. A previously validated online questionnaire was disseminated through social media to gather information from respondents. Participants were chosen via a simple random sampling technique. Data analysis was completed using SPSS (version 23; IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). Results Overall, 213 respondents were included in our study. The majority of them were females (70.9%). The participants' average age was 35.9 + 13.0 years. Our results revealed that the average awareness score of the study population was found to be 3.6 ± 1.1 (by using the Clarke method) and 3.7 ± 2.1 (by using the Gold method). Moreover, we found that impaired awareness of hypoglycemia's prevalence by Clarke's questionnaire was 52.1% and 53.5% by using the Gold questionnaire. In addition, almost half of the respondents reported weakness as a symptom of hypoglycemia over the last six months and unconsciousness over the last 12 months. Hypertension was the most commonly reported chronic disease by our participants. Lastly, factors such as age, gender, educational level, geographic distribution, and history of chronic illness did not show any significant association with impaired awareness of the prevalence of hypoglycemia. Conclusion According to our research, we concluded that patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in the region of Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia, had insufficient knowledge about hypoglycemia as a complication of T2D. Moreover, the impaired awareness of hypoglycemia in diabetic patients was found to be high. Hence, there is a need for interventional programs to raise public awareness.
低血糖对1型糖尿病（T1DM）和2型糖尿病（T2DM）患者在胰岛素治疗期间的健康和血糖管理有重大影响。它是糖尿病管理中的限速并发症，阻碍了严格的血糖控制。
评估沙特阿拉伯卡西姆地区成年人对低血糖作为2型糖尿病并发症的知识和认识。
这是一项于2022年1月至6月在沙特阿拉伯王国卡西姆地区的2型糖尿病患者中进行的横断面研究。通过社交媒体分发一份先前验证过的在线问卷，以收集受访者的信息。参与者通过简单随机抽样技术选取。使用SPSS（版本23；IBM公司，纽约州阿蒙克）完成数据分析。
总体而言，213名受访者纳入了我们的研究。其中大多数为女性（70.9%）。参与者的平均年龄为35.9±13.0岁。我们的结果显示，研究人群的平均知晓率得分（使用克拉克方法）为3.6±1.1，（使用戈尔德方法）为3.7±2.1。此外，我们发现，使用克拉克问卷时，对低血糖患病率的知晓不足率为52.1%，使用戈尔德问卷时为53.5%。此外，近一半的受访者报告在过去六个月中出现过虚弱作为低血糖症状，在过去12个月中出现过昏迷。高血压是我们的参与者报告的最常见慢性病。最后，年龄、性别、教育水平、地理分布和慢性病病史等因素与低血糖患病率知晓不足无显著关联。
根据我们的研究，我们得出结论，沙特阿拉伯卡西姆地区的2型糖尿病患者对低血糖作为2型糖尿病并发症的知识不足。此外，发现糖尿病患者对低血糖的知晓不足率很高。因此，需要开展干预项目以提高公众意识。
