OCCURRENCE OF IN-HOSPITALIZED PATIENTS HYPERGLYCEMIA IN THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT OF BAHAWAL VICTORIA HOSPITAL (BVH)

Objective: Hyperglycemia (diabetes mellitus or stress hyperglycemia) is very common in hospital settings and has prognostic significance. So far, no study in Pakistan has analyzed the incidence of hyperglycemia in hospitalized medical patients.

Aim: To determine the frequency of known diabetes and hyperglycemia in all patients admitted to the medical ward and to determine the frequency of hyperglycemia in various disease categories.

Methods: A retrospective study of patients was done in the Medicine department of Bahawal Victoria Hospital (BVH), Bahawalpur for one year duration from April 2019 to April 2020. "Known diabetic patients" were recruited from medical or medical history. "Treatment of hyperglycemia" was defined as having blood glucose ≥180 mg / dl, "Occult hyperglycemia to be tested for diabetes",> 140 mg / dl blood sugar and "Possible undiagnosed diabetes", blood sugar ≥ 200 mg / dl is defined as.

Results: Out of 1889 participants who took part in our study, 949 are men and 940 are women. The average age of the studied population was 49 + 19.6. A total of 24.3% (459) of admitted patients (19.5% men and 29.1% women) had diabetes. Among persons unknown as diabetic (n = 1430), 430 (30%) ≥200 mg / dL readings were recorded. Almost 53% of patients were admitted to hospital, their blood sugar level was 40-140 mg / dl. The overall incidence of hyperglycemia treated (≥180 mg / dl) was 48%. Very high blood sugar levels have been found to be 50-350 mg / dL in 13.7% of all hospitalizations. The average blood sugar level in the study population was 210 ± 117 mg / dl, while known diabetics 313 ± 125 mg / dl, while others 177 ± 94 mg / dl. Patients with sepsis, kidneys, liver, heart and stroke had a high percentage of hyperglycemia.

Conclusion: Almost 1/4th of our medical admissions are diagnosed diabetics while another third are potentially undiagnosed diabetics. Almost half of the patients are candidate for treatment of hyperglycemia in medical ward.

Key words: hyperglycemia, diabetes, blood sugar levels in hospitalized patients.