Update on inpatient glycemic control in hospitals in the United States

To provide data on glucose control in hospitals in the United States, analyzing measurements from the largest number of facilities to date.

Point-of-care bedside glucose (POC-BG) test results were extracted from 575 hospitals from January 2009 to December 2009 by using a laboratory information management system. Glycemic control for patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) and non-ICU areas was assessed by calculating patient-day-weighted mean POC-BG values and rates of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia. The relationship between POC-BG levels and hospital characteristics was determined.

A total of 49,191,313 POC-BG measurements (12,176,299 ICU and 37,015,014 non-ICU values) were obtained from 3,484,795 inpatients (653,359 in the ICU and 2,831,436 in non-ICU areas). The mean POC-BG was 167 mg/dL for ICU patients and 166 mg/dL for non-ICU patients. The prevalence of hyperglycemia (>180 mg/dL) was 32.2% of patient-days for ICU patients and 32.0% of patient-days for non-ICU patients. The prevalence of hypoglycemia (<70 mg/dL) was 6.3% of patient-days for ICU patients and 5.7% of patient-days for non-ICU patients. Patient-day-weighted mean POC-BG levels varied on the basis of hospital size (P<.01), type (P<.01), and geographic location (P<.01) for ICU and non-ICU patients, with larger hospitals (≥400 beds), academic hospitals, and US hospitals in the West having the lowest mean POC-BG values. The percentage of patient-days in the ICU characterized by hypoglycemia was highest among larger and academic hospitals (P<.05) and least among hospitals in the Northeast (P<.001).

Hyperglycemia is common in hospitals in the United States, and glycemic control may vary on the basis of hospital characteristics. Increased hospital participation in data collection may support a national benchmarking process for the development of optimal practices to manage inpatient hyperglycemia.