Reducing rates of severe hypoglycemia in a population-based cohort of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes over the decade 2000–2009

Authors

Susan M. O'Connell
Matthew N. Cooper
Max K. Bulsara, University of Notre Dame AustraliaFollow
Elizabeth A. Davis
Timothy W. Jones

Publication Details

O'Connell, S. M., Cooper, M. N., Bulsara, M. K., Davis, E. A., Jones, T. W. (2011). Reducing rates of severe hypoglycemia in a population-based cohort of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes over the decade 2000–2009. Diabetes Care, 34(11), 2379-2380. doi:10.2337/dc11-0748

Abstract

Objective: To examine rates of severe hypoglycemia (SH) in a large population-based cohort of children with type 1 diabetes and relationships to HbA.

Research Design and Methods: Data from 1,683 children (mean [SD] age at diagnosis 10.5 [4.2]; range 1–18 years) from 2000 to 2009 were analyzed from the Western Australian Children's Diabetes Database. Rates of SH were related to HbA_1c using negative binomial regression.

Results: A total of 7,378 patient-years of data and 780 SH events were recorded. The rate of SH per 100 patient-years peaked at 17.3 in 2001 and then declined from 2004 to a nadir of 5.8 in 2006. HbA_1c <7% was not associated with higher risk of SH (incidence rate ratio 1.2 [95% CI 0.9–1.6], P = 0.29) compared with HbA_1c of 8–9%.

Conclusions: In a sample of youth with type 1 diabetes, there has been a decrease in rates of SH and a weaker relationship with glycemic control than previously observed.

Keywords

peer-reviewed