Dataset Information
Food Insecurity and Hypoglycemia among Older Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Treated with Insulin or Sulfonylureas: The Diabetes & Aging Study.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Background
Severe hypoglycemia is a serious adverse drug event associated with hypoglycemia-prone medications; older patients with diabetes are particularly at high risk. Economic food insecurity (food insecurity due to financial limitations) is a known risk factor for hypoglycemia; however, less is known about physical food insecurity (due to difficulty cooking or shopping for food), which may increase with age, and its association with hypoglycemia.Objective
Study associations between food insecurity and severe hypoglycemia.Design
Survey based cross-sectional study.Participants
Survey responses were collected in 2019 from 1,164 older (≥ 65 years) patients with type 2 diabetes treated with insulin or sulfonylureas.Main measures
Risk ratios (RR) for economic and physical food insecurity associated with self-reported severe hypoglycemia (low blood glucose requiring assistance) adjusted for age, financial strain, HbA1c, Charlson comorbidity score and frailty. Self-reported reasons for hypoglycemia endorsed by respondents.Key results
Food insecurity was reported by 12.3% of the respondents; of whom 38.4% reported economic food insecurity only, 21.1% physical food insecurity only and 40.5% both. Economic food insecurity and physical food insecurity were strongly associated with severe hypoglycemia (RR = 4.3; p = 0.02 and RR = 4.4; p = 0.002, respectively). Missed meals ("skipped meals, not eating enough or waiting too long to eat") was the dominant reason (77.5%) given for hypoglycemia.Conclusions
Hypoglycemia prevention efforts among older patients with diabetes using hypoglycemia-prone medications should address food insecurity. Standard food insecurity questions, which are used to identify economic food insecurity, will fail to identify patients who have physical food insecurity only.
SUBMITTER: Karter AJ
PROVIDER: S-EPMC11436613 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Food Insecurity and Hypoglycemia among Older Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Treated with Insulin or Sulfonylureas: The Diabetes & Aging Study.
Journal of general internal medicine 20240520 13
<h4>Background</h4>Severe hypoglycemia is a serious adverse drug event associated with hypoglycemia-prone medications; older patients with diabetes are particularly at high risk. Economic food insecurity (food insecurity due to financial limitations) is a known risk factor for hypoglycemia; however, less is known about physical food insecurity (due to difficulty cooking or shopping for food), which may increase with age, and its association with hypoglycemia.<h4>Objective</h4>Study associations ...[more]
