Prevalence of Hypoglycemia and Its Determinants Among Diabetes Patients on Insulin Treatment at Tepi General Hospital, Southwest, Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND

Hypoglycemia occurs when the blood sugar levels are too low. In severe cases, hypoglycemia may give to seizures, coma, and sometimes death. The prevalence of hypoglycemia among patients with diabetes is likely underreported and undocumented.

METHODS

An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 336 study participants at the Tepi General Hospital in Southwest Ethiopia. A binary logistic regression model was used to determine the association between the prevalence of hypoglycemia and the factors associated with it. After a bivariate analysis, variables with a p value of < 0.25 were selected as a candidate for multivariable analysis. An odds ratio with a 95% CI was considered to indicate a significant association.

RESULTS

With 95% CI (52.48-62.25) the prevalence of hypoglycemia was determined as 57.44%. Nearly 11% of the patients encounter severe hypoglycemia. Female patients had three times higher odds of experiencing hypoglycemia (aOR=3, 95% CI: 2.10, 6.39). Those with no formal education had 1.5 times higher odds of experiencing hypoglycemia (aOR = 1.5, 95% CI: 1.08, 5.45). Patients with type 1 diabetes were 3.4 times more likely to experience hypoglycemia (aOR = 3.4, 95% CI: 1.87, 7.50). Those who had been diagnosed before 10 years (aOR = 1.3, 95% CI: 1.02, 3.21) were more likely to have hypoglycemia. Furthermore, patients who consumed alcohol were 3.0 times more likely to have a history of hypoglycemia (aOR = 3.0, 95% CI: 2.03, 6.43).

CONCLUSION

The magnitude of hypoglycemia among patients with diabetes is determined to be considerable with more than half of the participants encountered hypoglycemia. There is a strong relationship between the occurrence of hypoglycemia and sex, type of diabetes, time since diagnosis, alcohol status, and education status. Therefore, all concerned parties must pay close attention to lessen the prevalence of hypoglycemia and address the problems based on the primary contributing factors.