For a study, researchers sought to link the proportion of time spent in different blood glucose ranges (TIR) and death in critically sick patients. Adult patients admitted to the ICU for at least 1 day were included in the single-center, retrospective cohort research. Investigators examined the link between TIR and hospital mortality in diabetic and non-diabetic patients at predetermined blood glucose levels. About 3,705 (70.0%) of the 5,287 patients were non-diabetic, whereas 1,582 were diabetic (29.9%). Diabetic patients had a higher in-hospital mortality rate (15.8%) than non-diabetic patients (11.3%), P<0.0001, as well as a greater incidence of hyperglycemia (77.8% vs 39.4%) and hypoglycemia (14.3% vs 10%), P<0.0001. The blood glucose range of 70-180 mg/dL had the highest median TIR for both diabetes [76% (49.1 97.8%)] and non-diabetic individuals [100% (92.3—100%). The only optimal TIR of 40% was found in the non-diabetic sample, with blood glucose levels ranging from 70 to 120 mg/dL. Patients with TIR 70-120 mg/dL more than 40% had a significantly lower death rate (7.0%) than those with TIR 70-120 mg/dL less than 40% (15.7%), OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.27-0.97, adjusted- P=0.03. There was no link between TIR and hospital mortality in diabetes patients across all established glucose ranges. Patients who spent at least 40% of their time in the blood glucose range of 70-120 mg/dL had a better chance of survival. In diabetic patients, no such link was discovered.
Source:journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/08850666221098383
