Inertia on hypoglycemia: highlight from a Taiwan subgroup analysis of Real-Life Effectiveness and Care Patterns of Diabetes Management (RECAP-DM) study.
Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a global health issue. Patients with poor glycemic control often suffer from cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, neuropathic, and nephropathic complications as well as other chronic conditions. Therapeutic guidelines recommend that diabetic patients should maintain their HbA(1c) level below a certain target in order to minimize the risk of developing complications. However, hypoglycemia is recognized as a major impediment to the adequate control of type 2 diabetes. Hypoglycemia can manifest symptoms of varying degrees of severity. Moreover, an association between hypoglycemia and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality has been reported. Here, we present a post hoc Taiwan subgroup analysis of these data collected in the RECAP-DM study to indicate probably more emphasis and concern on hypoglycemia in type 2 diabetic patients in Taiwan. In this analysis, we found no significant difference was observed in treatment-related satisfaction between Taiwanese patients with or without hypoglycemia. Another finding of our study further shows that varying order of hypoglycemic symptoms or severity has no effect on patients' assessment of health-related quality of life scores. We need to pay more attention to this issue because of its enduring impact on compliance and concerns about hypoglycemia in type 2 diabetic patients. Nevertheless, socio-demographic characteristics are also important factors influencing glycemic control and patients' health-related quality of life. Future interventions and therapeutic algorithms should emphasize the probable patients' unawareness or neglect on hypoglycemia in diabetic patients.
Department of Internal Medicine, Far-Eastern Memorial Hospital and National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan. cyw1965@gmail.com
Chih-Yuan
CY
Wang
Ching-Ling
CL
Lin
Tien-Shiang
TS
Huang
Ming-Nan
MN
Chien
Sheng-Hwu
SH
Hsieh
Yu-Yao
YY
Huang
Kuang-Chung
KC
Shih
Shih-Te
ST
Tu
Chwen-Tzuei
CT
Chang
Huang
H
Chien-Ning
Chien-Wen
CW
Chou
Ta-Jen
TJ
Wu
Rue-Tsuan
RT
Liu
Hing-Chung
HC
Lam
Ching-Fai
CF
Kwok
Chen-Chung
CC
Fu
Wayne H-H
WH
Sheu
D001208:Asia; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D015190:Blood Glucose Self-Monitoring; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000378:metabolism*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007003:Hypoglycemia / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010139:Pacific Islands; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013624:Taiwan; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D001786:Blood Glucose; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin; C517652:hemoglobin A1c protein, human