Severe hypoglycaemia in adults presenting to a hospital emergency department: Clinical characteristics, comorbidities, and mortality outcomes

Aims To determine the clinical characteristics, risk factors and mortality outcomes associated with severe hypoglycaemia (SH) treated at a hospital emergency department.Materials and Methods Adult patients presenting with SH to the Northern General Hospital, Sheffield, UK over a 44-month period were assessed for clinical characteristics, coexisting comorbidities and mortality outcomes, including cause of death, and analysed by age of diabetes onset, below and above age 40 years. Factors that predicted mortality were determined.Results A total of 619 episodes of SH occurred in 506 individuals. Most had type 1 (T1D; n = 172 [34.0%]) or type 2 diabetes (T2D; n = 216 [42.7%]), but several attendees did not have diabetes (non-DM; n = 110 [21.7%]). Irrespective of age of diabetes onset, patients with T2D had more socioeconomic deprivation and comorbidities (P < 0.005). SH was uncommon in those with young-onset T2D, who constituted 7.2% of all episodes in diabetes. Hospital admission was high (60%-75%). The T2D cohort had the longest inpatient stay (median 5 days, vs. 2 and 3 days for the T1D and non-DM cohorts, respectively). Survival after the index SH episode was lower and mortality was higher in the non-DM (39.1%) and T2D (38.0%) cohorts than the T1D cohort (13.3%; all P < 0.05), with a median time to death of 13, 113 and 465 days, respectively. Most deaths (78%-86%) were from non-cardiovascular causes. Charlson index predicted mortality and poor survival in T1D and T2D (both P < 0.05).Conclusions Severe hypoglycaemia requiring emergency hospital treatment is associated with non-cardiovascular deaths and exerts a disproportionately greater impact on mortality in people with T2D and those without diabetes. Multimorbidity is an important risk factor for SH and increases mortality risk.