Table 3.
The association between factors influencing LH and the status of LH.
| Characteristics | LH status |
Total N (%) |
P-valuea | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present N (%) |
Not Present N (%) |
|||
| Device used | ||||
| Pen | 53 (66.3%) | 94 (77.0%) | 147 (72.8%) | 0.092a |
| Syringe | 27 (33.8%) | 28 (23.0%) | 55 (27.2%) | |
| Total daily injections | ||||
| 1 | 7 (8.8%) | 32 (26.2%) | 39 (19.3%) | 0.009a |
| 2 | 42 (52.5%) | 46 (37.7%) | 88 (43.6%) | |
| 3 | 7 (8.8%) | 11 (9.0%) | 18 (8.9%) | |
| 4 | 24 (30.0%) | 29 (23.8%) | 53 (26.2%) | |
| 5 | 0 (0%) | 4 (3.3%) | 4 (2.0%) | |
| Total daily injections | ||||
| 1–2 | 49 (61.3%) | 78 (63.9%) | 127 (62.9%) | 0.699 |
| 3–5 | 31 (38.8%) | 44 (36.1%) | 75 (37.1%) | |
| Needle length | ||||
| 4 mm | 50 (62.5%) | 74 (60.7%) | 124 (61.4%) | 0.656 |
| 5 mm | 5 (6.3%) | 11 (9.0%) | 16 (7.9%) | |
| 6 mm | 3 (3.8%) | 2 (1.6%) | 5 (2.5%) | |
| 8 mm | 3 (3.8%) | 2 (1.6%) | 5 (2.5%) | |
| Don't know | 19 (23.8%) | 33 (27.0%) | 52 (25.7%) | |
| Frequently changed needles/syringes | ||||
| At every injection | 45 (57.0%) | 75 (62.5%) | 120 (60.3%) | 0.580 |
| At every 2–3 injections | 17 (21.5%) | 21 (17.5%) | 38 (19.1%) | |
| At every 4–5 injections | 14 (17.7%) | 16 (13.3%) | 30 (15.1%) | |
| When cartridge finished | 3 (3.8%) | 8 (6.7%) | 11 (5.5%) | |
| Changing site of injections | ||||
| A different site at every injection | 55 (68.8%) | 73 (60.3%) | 128 (63.7%) | 0.182 |
| A week at each site | 11 (13.8%) | 13 (10.7%) | 24 (11.9%) | |
| Haphazardly | 6 (7.5%) | 22 (18.2%) | 28 (13.9%) | |
| Using only one site | 8 (10.0%) | 13 (10.7%) | 21 (10.4%) | |
| Injection site | ||||
| Abdomen | 18 (22.5%) | 30 (24.6%) | 48 (23.8%) | 0.914 |
| Thighs | 38 (47.5%) | 56 (45.9%) | 94 (46.5%) | |
| Buttocks | 1 (1.3%) | 3 (2.5%) | 4 (2.0%) | |
| Arm | 23 (28.7%) | 33 (27.0%) | 56 (27.7%) | |
| Type of insulin | ||||
| Basal-bolus | 28 (35.0%) | 49 (40.5%) | 77 (38.3%) | 0.184 |
| Basal insulin alone | 6 (7.5%) | 19 (15.7%) | 25 (12.4%) | |
| Premixed regular insulin | 31 (38.8%) | 35 (28.9%) | 66 (32.8%) | |
| Premixed insulin analogue | 15 (18.8%) | 18 (14.9%) | 33 (16.4%) | |
| BMI | ||||
| Normal | 6 (7.5%) | 14 (11.5%) | 20 (9.9%) | 0.195 |
| Overweight | 15 (18.8%) | 33 (27.0%) | 48 (23.8%) | |
| Obese | 59 (73.8%) | 75 (61.5%) | 134 (66.3%) | |
| Does the patient have swelling or lumps under the skin at the injection sites? | ||||
| Yes | 29 (36.3%) | 33 (27.3%) | 62 (30.8%) | 0.177 |
| No | 51 (63.7%) | 88 (72.7%) | 139 (69.2%) | |
| Does the patient inject into these swellings or lumps? | ||||
| Always | 3 (10.3%) | 1 (3.3%) | 4 (6.8%) | 0.559 |
| Sometimes | 13 (44.8%) | 14 (46.7%) | 27 (45.8%) | |
| Never | 13 (44.8%) | 15 (50.0%) | 28 (47.5%) | |
| Does the patient clean their skin with disinfectant (e.g. an alcohol swab) before injecting? | ||||
| Yes | 67 (83.8%) | 82 (67.2%) | 149 (73.8%) | 0.009b |
| No | 13 (16.3%) | 40 (32.8%) | 53 (26.2%) | |
| How does the patient inject insulin? | ||||
| Vertical | 64 (80.0%) | 94 (77.0%) | 158 (78.2%) | 0.679 |
| Horizontal | 14 (17.5%) | 22 (18.0%) | 36 (17.8%) | |
| Haphazardly | 2 (2.5%) | 6 (4.9%) | 8 (4.0%) | |
a
Chi-squared test was used in the analysis.
b
Statistically significant.