Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Diabetes is a chronic disease. Its management may require frequent hospitalization. The aim of our study was to determine hospitalization reasons in the diabetic department of The National Institute of Nutrition of Tunis.

Method: It was a prospective study conducted in the department of diabetology in the National Institute of Nutrition in Tunis for three months. The study was carried out on the medical records of hospitalized patients.

Results: We included 90 patients with diabetes with a sex ratio (M/F) of 0.7 and a mean age of 51.7±17.7 years. The majority were type 2 diabetics (72%). The mean age of diabetes was 12.7±8.8 years [0;34]. Smoking concerned 11% of patients. A history of hospitalization in the department was found in 36% of the cases. Chronic diabetic imbalance was the most frequent reason of hospitalization (72%): the initiation of insulin therapy was necessary in 35% of the cases. Emergency hospitalization was indicated in 22% of patients with diabetes and it was correlated significantly with type 1 diabetes (P=0.004) among whom 11% were hospitalized for diabetic ketosis and 11% for severe hypoglycemia. Among hospitalized women with diabetes, 6% were pregnant. The average length of hospital stay was 5.2±2.4 days [2;15]. Hypertension, dyslipidemia, dysthyroid, obesity and coronary artery disease were found in 52%, 53%, 11%, 40% and 11% of the cases, respectively.

Conclusion: Our study showed a high rate of hospitalization among patients with diabetes outside of a genuine emergency. Therapeutic and dietary education is an essential pillar in the management of all diabetic patients to achieve a good glycemic control while keeping a regular ambulatory follow-up.