Real-World Incidence and Risk Factors for Daytime and Nocturnal Non-Severe Hypoglycemia in Adults With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus on Insulin and/or Secretagogues (InHypo-DM Study, Canada).

Background: The aim of this study was to estimate the real-world incidence of self-reported non-severe hypoglycemia (NSH) and its related sociodemographic and clinical risk factors in a general population of Canadian adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) taking insulin and/or secretagogues.

Methods: Data for this study were obtained from the InHypo-DM Study. Self-reported data on the frequency of NSH (past 30 days) as well as sociodemographic and clinical characteristics were collected through an online questionnaire. Risk factors for any, daytime and nocturnal NSH were identified using multivariable negative binomial regression with backward selection.

Results: Among 432 adults with T2DM (43.8% female, mean age of 53.1 years), 53.9% (95% confidence interval [CI], 49.2% to 58.6%) reported ≥1 event of any (i.e. daytime or nocturnal) NSH in the past 30 days. The 30-day incidence rate of any NSH was 2.3 events per 30 person-days (95% CI, 2.1 to 2.4). Risk factors associated with the increased rate of any NSH were younger age, lower annual household income, being employed, longer duration of diabetes, higher glycated hemoglobin and presence of comorbidity. Risk factors were generally similar for daytime NSH (except for the exclusion of diabetes duration and addition of diabetes medication type) and nocturnal NSH (except for the exclusion of being employed).

Conclusions: This is the largest Canadian investigation to estimate the real-world frequency and distribution of self-reported NSH in T2DM. Events were alarmingly frequent and recurrent. Numerous sociodemographic and clinical risk factors were elucidated. These results highlight the importance of identifying high-risk individuals to minimize future occurrences of hypoglycemia.