A Novo Nordisk study reveals that one in five people with diabetes miss almost 15 hours of work per month due to disruption caused by episodes of dangerously low blood sugar, resulting in $2,294 in lost productivity per person, per year.
The episodes, known as hypoglycemic events, and their resulting complications, such as a pounding heart, trembling, hunger, sweating, difficulty concentrating or confusion, can cause diabetics to arrive late to work or miss a full day of work after they have occurred during the night. Slightly over 18 percent of those who had a hypoglycemic event during the day had to leave work early or miss the entire day.
"Many people with diabetes struggle with hypoglycemia on a regular basis," said lead researcher and health psychologist Dr. Meryl Brod. "This not only has an impact on their working lives, but increases the need to self-monitor blood glucose levels. Additionally, the events occurring during sleep are a challenge for people with diabetes."
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People with diabetes, treated with insulin, can go through one to three events per month.
The survey also showed that people who had an event gave themselves 5.6 extra blood glucose tests to measure their blood sugar in the next seven days after. Almost a quarter contacted a health care professional as a result of the event. Among patients using insulin, 25 percent reported decreasing their insulin dose following the event.
The journal Value in Health published the study, which surveyed 1,404 people in the U.S., U.K., Germany and France with type 1 and type 2 diabetes and who had reported a hypoglycemic event in the preceding month,
The complete study can be found in the July issue of Value in Health and also online at: http://www.valueinhealthjournal.com/.
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