Acute liver injury ups risk of severe hypoglycemia, mortality in discharged diabetes patients

In the study, Fu-Shun Yen, Dr. Yen's Clinic, Taoyuan, Taiwan and colleagues aimed to compare the risks of severe hypoglycemia and mortality between patients with type 2 diabetes and discharged with and without acute liver injury.

For this purpose, the researchers identified patients with type 2 diabetes and hospitalization for acute liver injury and other causes from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database. They compared the risks of severe hypoglycemia and mortality between the study and control groups using the multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazards models.

The authors reported the following findings:

• The incidence rates and adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) for severe hypoglycemia within 90 days and 365 days after discharge were 12.28 and 5.59/1,000 person-years (aHR 1.92) and 7.35 and 2.9/1,000 person-years (aHR 1.98) for patients discharged with and without acute liver injury, respectively.
• The incidence rates and aHRs for mortality within 90 days and 365 days after discharge were 82.4 and 27.54/1,000 person-years (aHR 1.73) and 36.8 and 9.3/1,000 person-years (aHR 1.94) for patients discharged with and without acute liver injury, respectively.
• The subgroup analysis of hypoglycemia risk in patients discharged with an acute liver injury revealed no significant interaction in risk factors of age, chronic kidney disease, and medications, except for sex difference, which has considerable interaction.

Findings from the cohort study showed that patients with T2D and those discharged with acute liver injury were at significantly higher risks of mortality and severe hypoglycemia within 90 and 365 days following the discharge than those released with other causes.

Reference:

Fu-Shun Yen, Ming-Chih Hou, Chun-Wei Pan, Jia-Sin Liu, Chih-Cheng Hsu, Chii-Min Hwu; The Risk of Severe Hypoglycemia and Mortality in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes and Discharged With Acute Liver Injury. Diabetes Care 2022; dc221349. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc22-1349