Prevalence of postprandial hyperglycaemia in basal insulin-treated patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus with controlled fasting glycaemia and elevated glycosylated haemoglobin.

Objective: To study the prevalence of postprandial hyperglycaemia (PPH) in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients treated with basal insulin, having fasting glucose < 130 mg/dL but HbA1c > 7.0% (53 mmol/mol).

Methods: This was an observational prospective multicentric study conducted in Spain. During 2 weeks, patients recorded a 6-point self-measured blood glucose profile (before and 2 h after eating) every 2 days. PPH was defined according to IDF and ADA guidelines (> 160 and > 180 mg/dL, respectively).

Results: We included 98 patients (males: 56.1%; mean age: 64.3 ± 10.4 years) who were treated with basal insulin for at least 1 year at stable doses in the last 2 months, 88.8% of them received concomitant oral antidiabetic drugs. Overall, 95.7% (95% CI 91.6-99.8) and 93.5% (95% CI 88.6-98.5) of patients showed ≥ 1 episode of PPH according to IDF and ADA criteria respectively. PPH was more frequently observed after lunch and dinner. The proportion of patients with ≥ 40% readings in range of PPH was 59.1% (95% CI 49.1-69.1) and 40.9% (95% CI 30.9-50.9), according to IDF and ADA criteria, respectively.

Conclusions: PPH is very common and should be considered a priority target in basal insulin-treated T2DM patients with elevated HbA1c despite controlled fasting glucose.