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Published on: June 11, 2012
Inpatient hyperglycaemia, and impact on morbidity, mortality and re-hospitalisation rates
Yvette Farrugia1, Jessica Mangion2, Marie-Claire Fava2
1Mater Dei Hospital, Msida, Malta yvette.a.farrugia@gov.mt.
Insights
High blood sugar (hyperglycaemia) at hospital admission is linked to worse patient outcomes. This includes increased mortality, especially for new-onset hyperglycaemia, highlighting the need for closer monitoring.
Area of Science:
- Internal Medicine
- Endocrinology
- Clinical Research
Background:
- Hyperglycaemia in hospital inpatients is associated with adverse outcomes.
- Understanding the prognostic significance of admission hyperglycaemia is crucial for patient management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of admission hyperglycaemia on hospital length of stay, readmission rates, and mortality.
- To determine if new-onset hyperglycaemia has a different prognosis compared to known diabetes with hyperglycaemia.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of 1,132 inpatient records from selected months in 2019 and 2020.
- Assessment of hyperglycaemia prevalence and its correlation with clinical outcomes.
Main Results:
- 14.1% of patients presented with hyperglycaemia.
- New-onset hyperglycaemia correlated with a significantly higher mortality rate (43.3%) compared to known diabetes (17.9%).
- Higher admission glucose levels and severe hyperglycaemia (>20 mmol/L) were associated with increased 90-day and 1-year mortality.
Conclusions:
- Admission hyperglycaemia serves as a critical prognostic marker, indicating potentially more severe illness.
- Patients with hyperglycaemia on admission require heightened clinical attention and care.
- Admission glucose levels and length of stay are significant predictors of long-term mortality.
Introduction:
Hyperglycaemia is related to poorer outcomes among hospital inpatients. We investigated the impact of hyperglycaemia at admission on length of hospital stay, readmission rate and mortality rate.
Method:
We retrospectively analysed the records of 1,132 patients admitted to hospital in January 2019, April 2019, August 2019 and April 2020.
Results:
Hyperglycaemia was present in 14.1% of patients. New-onset hyperglycaemia on admission (in 3.9% of patients) was related to a higher mortality rate than in patients known to have diabetes admitted with hyperglycaemia (43.3% vs 17.9%; p=0.006). Mortality at 90 days and 1 year increased with higher admission glucose levels (p=0.03 and p=0.005, respectively), severe hyperglycaemia (>20 mmol/L) having a 1-year mortality of 34.3%. After accounting for confounding variables, admission glucose and length of stay remained significant predictors of 1-year mortality (p=0.034 and p=0.003, respectively).
Conclusion:
Hyperglycaemia is an important prognostic marker and may indicate a more severe illness. These patients should be highlighted for a greater level of care.
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