Severe and multiple hypoglycemic episodes are associated with increased risk of death in ICU patients

Table 2 Blood glucose metrics^a

Variables	No hypoglycemia	Moderate hypoglycemia	Severe hypoglycemia	Multiple hypoglycemic events
Variables	(n =1,474)	(n =874)	(n =253)	(n =482)
Initial blood glucose, mmol/L	8.9 (4.0)	9.6 (4.6)^b	9.8 (5.5)^b	9.7 (4.2)^b
Mean morning blood glucose, mmol/L	7.2 (2.3)	6.8 (1.6)^b	6.8 (1.8)^b	6.7 (1.8)^b
Mean blood glucose, mmol/L	7.2 (1.7)	6.7 (1.2)^b	6.8 (1.5)^b	6.6 (1.2)^b
Maximum blood glucose, mmol/L	11.3 (1.4)	12.8 (4.1)^b	14.6 (5.1)^bc	14.2 (4.9)^b
Minimum Blood glucose, mmol/L	4.6 (1.4)	2.9 (0.3)	1.7 (0.4)	2.2 (0.6)
Blood glucose standard deviation, mmol/L	1.5 (1.0)	2.0 (1.0)^b	2.4 (1.3)^bc	2.2 (1.1)^b
Blood glucose CV	0.20 (0.15 to 0.26)	0.27 (0.22 to 0.34)^b	0.32 (0.25 to 0.39)^bc	0.31 (0.25 to 0.38)^b
Blood glucose CV >0.20	715/1,428 (50%)	735/873 (84%)^b	235/253 (93%)^bc	452/479 (94%)^b
Total insulin dose, IU	121 (38 to 344)	348 (123 to 801)^b	442 (129 to 986)^b	534 (201 to 1109)^b
Daily insulin dose, IU/day	19 (4 to 41)	34 (15 to 58)^b	35 (17 to 59)^b	38 (20 to 61)^b
Days with insulin	5 (3 to 11)	9 (4 to 17)^b	10 (5 to 20)^bc	12 (6 to 22)^b
Number of blood glucose measurements	28 (16 to 56)	44 (24 to 80)^b	52 (28 to 104)^bc	50 (32 to 108)^b
Number of moderate hypoglycemia		2 (1 to 3)	3 (1 to 6)	4 (3 to 6)
Number of severe hypoglycemia	–	–	1 (1 to 2)	0 (0 to 1)
Number of hypoglycemic events (any type)	–	2 (1 to 3)	5 (3 to 8)	4 (3 to 7)
Hypoglycemic events (any type) ≥3	–	286 (33%)	197 (77%)	482 (100%)

^aData are expressed as mean (standard deviation), median (25th to 75th interquartile range) and number (%). CV, Coefficient of variation. ^b P <0.05 vs. no hypoglycemia group; ^c P <0.05 vs. moderate hypoglycemia group (only for severe hypoglycemia group). The number of hypoglycemic events and the minimum blood glucose were not tested for statistical significance.

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