Table 1.
Characteristics of people with normal awareness (NA) and impaired awareness of hypoglycaemia (IAH) defined by Clarke, Gold and Pedersen methods in 100 people with type 1 diabetes
| Clarke | Gold | Pedersen | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NA (n = 82) | IAH (n = 18) | P* | NA (n = 81) | IAH (n = 19) | P* | NA (n = 39) | IAH (n = 61) | P* | |
| General characteristics | |||||||||
| Age (years) | 42.4 (1.5) | 53.7 (3.1) | 0.002 | 43.3 (1.5) | 49.4 (3.7) | 0.09 | 43.5 (2.0) | 45.7 (1.9) | 0.28 |
| Gender, no. male (%) | 41/82 (50) | 5/13 (38.5) | 0.12 | 40/81 (49.4) | 6/19 (31.6) | 0.21 | 20/39 (51.3) | 26/61 (42.6) | 0.42 |
| Duration of diabetes (years) | 19.6 (1.5) | 30.4 (2.6) | 0.002 | 20.2 (1.4) | 29.1 (4.0) | 0.02 | 18.2 (2.0) | 24.3 (1.9) | 0.04 |
| HbA1c (mmol/mol) | 69.2 (2.2) | 71 (4.0) | 0.73 | 70.6 (2.3) | 65.3 (2.5) | 0.3 | 70.7 (3.6) | 68.8 (2.3) | 0.63 |
| DKA episodes | 0.3 (0.0) | 0.3 (0.1) | 0.97 | 0.29 (0.07) | 0.26 (0.10) | 0.87 | 0.2 (0.1) | 0.3 (0.1) | 0.34 |
| SH episodes | 0.2 (0.0) | 0.6 (0.2) | 0.02 | 0.22 (0.05) | 0.47 (0.22) | 0.1 | 0.1 (0.1) | 0.4 (0.1) | 0.04 |
| Insulin regimen, no. (%) | |||||||||
| Basal bolus | 72 (87.8) | 14 (77.7) | 0.39a | 71 (87.7) | 15 (78.9) | 1a | 34 (87.2) | 51 (83.6) | 1a |
| CSII | 8 (9.8) | 3 (16.7) | 9 (11.1) | 2 (1.1) | 4 (10.3) | 7 (11.5) | |||
| TDS/BD | 2 (2.4) | 1 (5.6) | 1 (1.2) | 2 (1.1) | 1 (2.6) | 2 (3.3) | |||
| Insulin type, no. (%) | |||||||||
| Analogue | 63 (76.8) | 15 (83.3) | 0.51a | 64 (79.0) | 14 (73.7) | 1a | 33 (84.6) | 45 (73.8) | 0.13a |
| Mix | 17 (20.7) | 2 (11.1) | 16 (19.8) | 3 (15.8) | 5 (12.8) | 14 (23.0) | |||
| Human | 2 (2.4) | 1 (5.6) | 1 (1.2) | 2 (1.1) | 1 (2.6) | 2 (3.3) | |||
| Standardised education program, no. (%) | |||||||||
| Done within last 2 years | 22 (26.8) | 2 (11.1) | 0.26 | 18 (22.2) | 4 (21.1) | 0.93 | 12 (30.8) | 10 (16.4) | 0.21 |
| Done over 2 years ago | 20 (24.4) | 7 (38.9) | 24 (29.6) | 5 (26.3) | 9 (23.1) | 20 (32.8) | |||
| Not done | 40 (48.8) | 9 (50.0) | 39 (48.1) | 10 (52.6) | 18 (46.2) | 31 (50.8) | |||
| Symptom scores | |||||||||
| Neuroglycopenic | 3.6 (0.2) | 2.8 (0.4) | 0.04 | 3.6 (0.2) | 3.6 (0.4) | 0.98 | 4.2 (0.2) | 3.5 (0.2) | 0.84 |
| Autonomic | 3.9 (0.1) | 2.6 (0.5) | 2 × 10–4 | 3.9 (0.1) | 3.3 (0.4) | 0.05 | 3.5 (0.25) | 3.6 (0.2) | 0.79 |
| Poor hypoglycaemia symptoms | 1.5 (0.1) | 3.6 (0.5) | 4.46 × 10–9 | 1.5 (0.1) | 3.7 (0.5) | 6.73 × 10–12 | 1.3 (0.1) | 2.3 (0.2) | 0.0006 |
| Sufficient knowledge | 5.3 (0.2) | 4.5 (0.4) | 0.04 | 5.2 (0.2) | 4.7 (0.4) | 0.14 | 5.5 (0.2) | 4.9 (0.2) | 0.09 |
| Worry regarding hypoglycaemia | |||||||||
| Daytime | 3.2 (0.2) | 3.9 (0.5) | 0.08 | 3.3 (0.2) | 3.3 (0.4) | 0.92 | 3.1 (0.3) | 4.1 (0.3) | 0.43 |
| Night-time | 4.2 (0.2) | 5.3 (0.5) | 0.04 | 4.3 (0.2) | 4.9 (0.4) | 0.19 | 3.4 (0.2) | 4.6 (0.3) | 0.26 |
| Frequency of readings < 3.5 mmol/L at night, no. (%) | |||||||||
| ≤ 3/month | 74 (90.2) | 10 (55.6) | 0.001 | 70 (86.4) | 14 (73.7) | 0.18 | 34 (87.1) | 51 (83.6) | 1 |
| > 3/month | 8 (9.8) | 6 (33.3) | 11 (12.3) | 4 (26.3) | 5 (12.8) | 10 (16.4) | |||
All results in mean ± SEM unless stated otherwise
DKA episodes diabetic ketoacidosis episodes in the last year, SH episodes severe hypoglycaemic episodes in the last year, CSII constant subcutaneous insulin infusion therapy, TDS/BD twice or thrice daily insulin injections
*P value less than 0.05 was considered to be significant
aComparison performed between two largest subgroups because of small patient numbers in TDS/BD (insulin regimen) and human (insulin type) subgroups