A Cross-Sectional study on risk factors for severe hypoglycemia among Insulin-Treated elderly type 2 diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) patients in Singapore.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the risk factors for severe hypoglycemia among Southeast Asian T2DM patients. METHODS: Insulin-treated T2DM patients greater than 65 years old with HbA1c < 8% were recruited. They completed questionnaires detailing their experience of hypoglycemia and presence of impaired hypoglycemia awareness (IAH). Data on insulin treatment regimens, glycated haemoglobin (Hba1c) and comorbidities were also collected. RESULTS: Of the 92 participants, 15.2% had at least one episode of severe hypoglycemia over the past year. Comparison between both groups showed that patients with severe hypoglycemia had lower Hba1c, higher Gold score (3.9 ± 1.9 vs. 2.5 ± 1.4; p < .05) and higher Hypoglycemia Fear Survey (HFS) worry score (39.1 ± 14.3 vs. 31.8 ± 11.8; p < .05). There were no significant differences in duration of diabetes and insulin treatment, treatment regimens and diabetes associated comorbidities except peripheral vascular disease. Furthermore, no significant differences were noted in HFS behavior score, hypoglycemia risk modifying behavior and social economic status. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with severe hypoglycemia had tighter glycemic control, greater IAH and higher worry scores regardless of treatment regimens. Clinicians may play a significant role in tightening glycemic control and influencing the risk of severe hypoglycemia. Standard structured diabetes education may help reduce the risk of severe hypoglycemia among this group of patients.

Measuring High-Risk Patients' Preferences for Pharmacogenetic Testing to Reduce Severe Adverse Drug Reaction: A Discrete Choice Experiment.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate patient preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for a genetic test that can reduce the risk of life-threatening adverse drug reactions (ADRs). We hypothesize that test features (risk of developing the adverse reaction with and without testing, test cost, and treatment cost) and the choice context (physician recommendation and the most common choice made by peer patients) will influence choices. METHODS: A discrete choice experiment was conducted in which 189 patients at high risk for gout were asked to choose between treatment options that varied along key attributes. A latent class logit model was used to analyze the choice data and test the hypotheses. RESULTS: We identified two classes of patients: the risk-averse class and the cost-conscious class. The WTP to reduce the risk of life-threatening ADRs from 1 out of 600 to 1 out of 1 million was SGD1215 in the risk-averse class. In contrast, in the cost-conscious class, the WTP was insensitive to the extent of risk reduction. Overall, the predicted take-up rate for the test is 65% at a price of SGD400. If the test was recommended by a physician or was chosen by most of the patients, the take-up rate for the test would increase by 8.5 and 1.5 percentage points, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: There is a potentially large demand for genetic tests that could reduce the risk of life-threatening ADRs. Physician recommendations and providing information on the choices of others are powerful influences on demand, even more so than moderate price reductions.