Differences in Glycemic Control for Inpatients with Type 1 Diabetes on Insulin Pump Versus Subcutaneous Insulin Therapy.

BACKGROUND

Inpatient use of insulin pump therapy has been increasing due to greater availability of this technology, however there is a paucity of research that investigates glycemic control of inpatient insulin pump users.

OBJECTIVE

To compare the glycemic control of hospitalized patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) who used insulin pump vs. multiple daily injections (MDI).

DESIGN

Retrospective chart review.

PARTICIPANTS

Patients with T1D who were hospitalized between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2019, in an academic medical center in the New York metropolitan area.

MAIN MEASURES

Patients were categorized into three groups based on their method of insulin administration: "pump only" group used insulin pump exclusively, "MDI only" group used MDI only, and "intermittent pump" group used a combination of both methods. The primary endpoints are mean blood glucose, rates of hypoglycemic events (blood glucose < 70 mg/dL), and rates of hyperglycemic events (blood glucose > 250 mg/dL). Separate multivariable Poisson regressions were performed to determine the association between the type of insulin administration and rate outcomes (i.e., rate of hypoglycemic events and rate of hyperglycemic events).

RESULTS

The study included 78 patients with a mean age of 51, who were mostly male (54%), and white (72%). The average proportion of glucose measurements that were hyperglycemic for the "pump only", "MDI only", and "intermittent pump" groups were 0.11 (SD = 0.11), 0.25 (SD = 0.19), and 0.24 (SD = 0.25), respectively. The "pump only" group has a significantly lower proportion of hyperglycemic events as compared to the "MDI only" group (p = 0.0227).

CONCLUSIONS

In this sample, patients who exclusively used their insulin pump while inpatient had a lower rate of hyperglycemic events than patients who used MDI only; suggesting that select patients can safely continue their insulin pump therapy in the inpatient setting.