News Release

Blood glucose levels measured in hospitalized patients can predict risk of type 2 diabetes

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PLOS

Blood glucose levels measured in hospitalized adults during acute illness can be used to predict risk of developing type 2 diabetes over the following 3 years, according to a study published by David McAllister and colleagues from the University of Edinburgh, UK in this week's PLOS Medicine.

The researchers obtained measurements of blood glucose levels on admission for 86,634 patients aged 40 years or older who were admitted to a hospital for an acute illness between 2004 and 2008 in Scotland and identified those patients who developed type 2 diabetes up to December 2011 through the Scottish Care Information - Diabetes Collaboration national registry. They found that the overall 3-year risk of developing type 2 diabetes was 2.3%, with the risk of developing diabetes increased linearly with increasing blood glucose level at admission. The 3-year risk of type 2 diabetes was 1% for patients with a glucose level of less than 5 mmol/l (90 mg/dl) and increased to approximately 15% for patients with a glucose of 15 mmol/l (270 mg/dl) or more.

Based on their analyses, the researchers developed a risk calculator that uses the patient's age, sex, and admission blood glucose level to predict risk of developing diabetes over 3 years following hospital admission. However, the authors note that this approach has not yet been validated in non-white populations or populations outside of Scotland.

The authors say: "These findings can be used to inform individual patients of their long-term risk of type 2 diabetes and to offer lifestyle advice as appropriate."

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Research Article

Funding: This work was supported by a research grant from the Chief Scientist Office for Scotland (CZH/4/836). NM is funded via an Intermediate Fellowship from the British Heart Foundation. No funding bodies had any role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Citation: McAllister DA, Hughes KA, Lone N, Mills NL, Sattar N, et al. (2014) Stress Hyperglycaemia in Hospitalised Patients and Their 3-Year Risk of Diabetes: A Scottish Retrospective Cohort Study. PLoS Med 11(8): e1001708. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001708

Author Affiliations: University of Edinburgh, UNITED KINGDOM
University of Glasgow, UNITED KINGDOM
NHS Lothian, UNITED KINGDOM

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http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1001708

Contact:
David McAllister
University of Edinburgh
+44 772 559 3901
david.mcallister@ed.ac.uk


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