Standard parameters of diabetic control: are they reliable?

To evaluate the reliability of the tradional methods to assess short-term control of diabetes, 25 children with insulin-dependent diabetes were studied with a 24-h glucose profile in addition to the traditional assessment techniques. Patient compliance was elminated as much as possible from the experimental design. The correlation of the routine methods with the 24-h glucose profile was excellent, and a scoring system for control was empirically derived. The single method of assessment that correlated best with the overall control score was the traditional daily urine test. In 6 of the 25 subjects studied, relative hypoglycemia was observed, occurring asymptomatically at night, and was followed by a hyperglycemic rebound. Traditional assessment techniques did not detect this event. Five additional patients had symptomatic daytime hypoglycemia. We conclude that the traditional daily urine tests are adquate indicators of day-to-day control in most diabetic patients, given adquate compliance. Our data also suggest that asymptomatic nocturnal hypoglycemia occurs frequently in children with diabetes, although clinical proof is difficult in the absence of a 24-h glucose profile.