Hypoglycemia hospitalizations increased from 1998 to 2013 in England

Hospitalizations for hypoglycemia increased by roughly 4% among adults with type 1 diabetes and young and middle-aged adults with type 2 diabetes from 1998 to 2013, but that trend reversed in older adults with type 2 diabetes beginning in 2009, according to results of a retrospective cohort study of patients in England.

Victor W. Zhong, PhD, of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and colleagues evaluated data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink on 23,246 U.K. adults with type 1 diabetes and 241,441 with type 2 diabetes to determine trends in hospitalization for hypoglycemia. Data on hypoglycemia as a primary reason for hospitalization between 1998 and 2013 were collected from Hospital Episode Statistics for patients in England. Join-point regression models were used to estimate trends for adults with type 1 diabetes, young and middle-aged adults with type 2 diabetes (aged 18-64 years) and older adults with type 2 diabetes (aged 65 years and older).