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NOVEL VISUAL TOOL TO ASSESS THE PREVALENCE OF HYPOGLYCAEMIA SYMPTOMS IN TYPE 1 DIABETES
Abstract
Background and Aims
There is variability in the experience of symptoms of hypoglycaemia, within- and between- individuals with diabetes. We report preliminary data on the prevalence of hypoglycaemic symptoms across glucose ranges by hypoglycaemia awareness status using our novel smartphone HypoMETRICS app.
Methods
Participants with type 1 diabetes (T1D) used the app to report all episodes of hypoglycaemia experienced over the 10-week study, recording glucose level and grading symptoms. The symptoms included sweating, heart palpitations, shaking, hunger, confusion, headache, difficulties in speaking and difficulties in movement and coordination. Heat maps of symptoms were generated based on their prevalence at each glucose level by awareness status, assessed by Gold Score, using R.
Results
2804 hypoglycaemic episodes were reported by 97 participants, mean (SD) age was 46.0 (14.6) years and diabetes duration was 22.9 (15.0) years. 72.2% used Flash glucose monitoring. 75 participants had normal awareness of hypoglycaemia and 22 had impaired awareness of hypoglycaemia (IAH). The most common symptoms were hunger (49.9%), shaking (45.1%), sweating (34.2%) and heart palpitations (28.1%). As shown in Figure 1, episodes with lower glucose were associated with more symptoms and a lower percentage of episodes in IAH were symptomatic in each glucose category.
Conclusions
Heat maps generated from the HypoMETRICS app data provide a visual, quantitative representation of subjective experiences of hypoglycaemia. As the heat maps can be generated for individuals as well as groups, the app offers a novel tool for objective evaluation of hypoglycaemia awareness in T1D, clinically as well as in research.