[Main clinical factors associated with hypoglycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes]

Hypoglycemia is a frequent acute complication of type 2 diabetes (T2D), and it is a medical emergency. The etiology is fundamental for timely diagnosis and treatment.

To describe the most frequent clinical characteristics of patients with T2D with hypoglycemia, admitted to the Emergency Department of a second-level hospital.

Descriptive and cross-sectional study, carried out in a second-level hospital in Puebla, Mexico, in adults with T2D who were admitted with glycemia < 70 mg/dL. Those with psychiatric diagnoses were excluded. Age, sex, schooling, duration of diabetes, comorbidities, capillary glycemia, treatment, symptomatology, drug addiction, and (their) caregivers were evaluated. Patients signed informed consent. Descriptive statistics, as well as Kolmogorov-Smirnov test were used. The degree of hypoglycemia was correlated with the different clinical characteristics with Spearman's Rho. A p ≤ 0.05 was considered significant.

224 patients were recruited, with a mean age of 60 (standard deviation [SD] ±14) years. Male sex (116 patients, 51.7%), age 56 to 65 years (54, 24.1%), primary schooling (79, 35.3%), evolution of 10-20 years (80, 35.7%), comorbidity hypertension (91, 40.6%) moderate hypoglycemia (96, 42. 9%), oral hypoglycemic treatment (54, 39.7%), adrenergic symptoms (120, 53.6%), and tobacco addiction (64, 28.6%) were predominant.

The population studied was characterized by having chronic management and control of diabetes mellitus based on oral hypoglycemic agents, being in the 5th decade of life and having basic scholarship.