Background: Hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia episodes are common in older adults living in long-term care (LTC) facilities, but often go undetected due to clinical complications and comorbidities in the elderly. There is limited data evaluating the frequency of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia in the elderly who live in LTC facilities. We aimed to investigate and define hypoglycemia frequency (blood glucose <70 mg/dL) and hyperglycemia frequency (blood glucose >250 mg/dL) in the elderly at LTC facilities.
Methods: Patients with diabetes at the LTC facility were included if they were ≥65 years and their diabetes regimen included insulin or sulfonylurea therapy. Frequency of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia was evaluated through the use of Freestyle Libre Pro CGM and events detected were compared to available finger-stick measurements over a 10-14 day period.
Results: Seventy-one percent of patients had at least one episode of hypoglycemia. 100 percent (106/106) of hypoglycemic episodes were captured by CGM but unrecognized by fingerstick. Forty-eight percent of patients had at least one episode of hyperglycemia.
Conclusion: There is high frequency of hypoglycemic and hyperglycemic episodes in older adults. Our study shows that the use of professional CGM in elders in LTC facilities can provide an in-depth assessment of hypoglycemia events and hyperglycemia events when combined with finger-stick glucose monitoring.
V. Schmidt: Research Support; Abbott. K. Lane: None. R.M. Lee: None. M. Freeby: Research Support; Abbott, Fractyl Health, Inc., Novo Nordisk.
Abbott Diabetes Care Inc (ADC-SRR-IIS-18-22)
