Hospitalizations Due to Severe Hypoglycemia in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus in Spain

Background And Objectives: One of the most important therapeutic complications in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) is hypoglycemia. This study has estimated the number of hospitalizations due to severe hypoglycemia in patients with type DM1 and DM2.

Patients And Methods: The study hospital population was defined using the National Catalogue of Hospitals (CNH) 2007 (last available data), and has included 260 general hospitals of the National Health System. The number of hospitalizations due to severe hypoglycemia was obtained from the Basic Minimum Data Set (BMDS) for the 183 hospitals. For the remaining 77 hospitals, this number was estimated based on the available information.

Results: In 2007, there were 26,701 (0.82%) hospitalizations with hypoglycemia. In DM2 patients, 8,242 (0.25%) episodes were reported as primary diagnosis and 16,649 (0.51%) as secondary. In DM1 patients, 1,157 (0.04%) and 653 (0.02%) episodes were reported as primary and secondary diagnosis, respectively. Overall incidence in DM2 was 1.82 episodes/10,000 inhabitants-year, this ranging between 1.10 episodes/10,000 inhabitants-year in the Islas Canarias to 3.37 in Castilla y León.

Conclusions: Severe hypoglycemia is an important reason for hospitalization of patients with DM in Spain, there being great variability according to the Autonomous Regions.