Hypoglycemia upon hospital admission from long-term care: health care resource use

Residents with diabetes in long-term care (LTC) settings often have recognized risk factors for developing hypoglycemia, including advanced age, dementia, and polypharmacy; however, data regarding hypoglycemia in LTC and associated hospitalizations are lacking. Our aim was to describe health care resource use and costs for patients with diabetes and hypoglycemia upon hospital admission.

Retrospective, descriptive study using a US hospital billing database, October 2015 through September 2019.

Eligible patients were those 18 years and older with type 1 or 2 diabetes who (1) were hospitalized with hypoglycemia upon admission from LTC or from home and (2) received insulin during hospitalization. We described the percentages of patients admitted from LTC or from home with hypoglycemia and their characteristics, length of hospitalization, and hospital costs (2019 US$).

Of 106,602 patients with diabetes admitted from LTC and 4,315,571 from home, 6609 (6%) and 182,756 (4%), respectively, presented with hypoglycemia on hospital admission. Mean ages of patients admitted with hypoglycemia from LTC and home were 73 and 66 years, respectively. The percentages of patients in LTC and home cohorts with dementia were 34% and 12%, respectively; with renal disease, 60% and 52%; and with type 2 diabetes, 95% and 89%. Mean hospital stays were 8.0 days for patients admitted from LTC and 6.7 days for those admitted from home; mean total hospital costs were $19,800 and $16,800, respectively.

These findings highlight the importance of providing optimal diabetes management for patients in LTC settings to prevent hypoglycemia and potential hospitalizations and costs.