Endocrine Abstracts

Recurrent hypoglycemia is a major clinical problem. In fact, it disrupts blood glucose regulation and greatly impacts the daily lives of those affected. Maintaining glycemic balance is a real challenge indiabetic patients. The objectives of the study were to determine the prevalence of hypoglycemia in type 2 diabetics and to evaluate their knowledge.

Patients and methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among 120 type 2 diabetic patients followed at the outpatient clinic of the A service at the National Institute of Nutrition in Tunis. We evaluated the prevalence of hypoglycemia, their knowledge, clinical and biological characteristics of the patients, as well as methods of first line treatment of hypoglycemia and assessing fear of the risk of hypoglycemia using the HFS-II (Hypoglycemia Fear Survey-II) questionnaire.

Results: Our population consisted of 46 men and 74 women. The mean age was 58.4±.13.9. The average duration of diabetes was 12.1 years, the mean HbA1c was 9.85%. Only 25% of patients knew the definition of hypoglycemia and only 50% of them had a glucose meter. Among the studied patients, 43.3% had at least one episode of hypoglycemia in the month preceding the study. Adequate first line treatment in hypoglycemia was performed by only 16.6% of patients. Furthermore, the higher the HFS 2 Score, the more unbalanced the diabetes was (P=0.02).

Conclusion: Preventing hypoglycemia is necessary in order to achieve good glycemic balance, hence the interest in therapeutic education that must be established early and regularly re-evaluated.