Hospital Admissions due to Dysglycaemia and Prescriptions of Antidiabetic Medications in England and Wales: An Ecological Study

INTRODUCTION: Hypoglycaemia and hyperglycaemia are common adverse events associated with antidiabetic medications. They are also a common cause of hospital admissions for people with diabetes. The objective of the study was to explore the trends in hospital admissions due to hypoglycaemia and hyperglycaemia and in the prescriptions of antidiabetic medications in England and Wales. METHODS: We conducted an observational study during the period 1999–2016. Hospital admission data for patients from all age groups were extracted from the Hospital Episode Statistics database in England and the Patient Episode Database for Wales. Data on prescriptions of antidiabetic medications were extracted from the Prescription Cost Analysis database from 2004 to 2016. RESULTS: Between 1999 and 2016, the hospital admission rate increased by 173.0% [from 17.2 (95% CI 16.9–17.6) to 47.1 (95% CI 46.5–47.6) per 100,000 persons] for hypoglycaemia and by 147.0% [from 22.8 (95% CI 22.4–23.2) to 56.3 (95% CI 55.7–56.9) per 100,000 persons] for hyperglycaemia. The prescription rate for all antidiabetic medications increased between 2004 and 2016 by 116.0% [from 373.0 (95% CI 373.0–373.0) to 806.0 (95% CI 806.0–806.0) prescriptions per 1000 persons]. There was a parallel increase in the rate of antidiabetic medication prescriptions during the same study period, with correlation coefficients of 0.94 for hypoglycaemia and 0.98 for hyperglycaemia, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: There have been parallel increases in the rate of admissions due to dysglycaemia and the rate of antidiabetic prescriptions in England and Wales. Further analytical studies are required to investigate whether increased admission for dysglycaemia is associated with increased use of antidiabetic medications.