Karter et al reported a tool for predicting the risk of a hypoglycemia-related Emergency Department (ED) visit or hospital admission. The authors are from multiple institutions in the United States.
Patient selection: Type 2 diabetes
Parameters:
(1) number of times with hypoglycemia related ED visit or hospital admission ever
(2) number of times gone to an ED for any reason in the past 12 months
(3) therapy with insulin
(4) therapy sulfonylureas
(5) chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage
(6) age
High risk of hypoglycemia - one of the following:
(1) number of times with hypoglycemia utilization >= 3
(2) number of times with hypoglycemia utilization 1 or 2 AND insulin user
Low risk of hypoglycemia - one of the following:
(1) no prior episodes of hypoglycemia utilization AND no insulin use AND no sulfonylurea use
(2) no prior episodes of hypoglycemia utilization AND no insulin AND sulfonylurea use AND age < 77 years AND not CKD stage 4 or 5
(3) no prior episodes of hypoglycemia utilization AND uses insulin AND age < 77 years AND 0 or 1 ED visits in past year
Intermediate risk - not low or high risk.
Risk relates to a hypoglycemia-related ED visit or hospital admission in the next 12 months:
High risk > 5%
Intermediate risk 1-5%
Low risk < 1%
