Blood sugar control among type 2 diabetic patients who travel abroad: A cross sectional study

• Published in: Medicine (Baltimore) Vol. 98; no. 13; p. e14946
• Main Authors: Lin, I-Wen, Chang, Hao-Hsiang, Lee, Yi-Hsuan, Wu, Yi-Chun, Lu, Chia-Wen, Huang, Kuo-Chin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc 01.03.2019; Wolters Kluwer Health
• Subjects: Aged; Blood Glucose - drug effects; Body Mass Index; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - complications; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - drug therapy; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - epidemiology; Female; Glycated Hemoglobin - analysis; Humans; Hypoglycemia - complications; Hypoglycemia - epidemiology; Male; Middle Aged; Observational Study; Patient Education as Topic; Retrospective Studies; Risk Factors; Surveys and Questionnaires; Travel - statistics & numerical data
• ISSN: 0025-7974; 1536-5964; 1536-5964
• DOI: 10.1097/MD.0000000000014946

The dose adjustment of anti-diabetic drugs during traveling abroad remains an important issue for the diabetic patients. However, there are few studies exploring the changes in blood sugar in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) when traveling abroad. The study aimed to investigate the hypoglycemic episodes, sugar control, and associated factors during travel among patients with T2DM.A questionnaire was administrated to T2DM patients visiting the family medicine clinic in a medical center from September 2016 to April 2017. The Chi-square test was used to examine the differences in risk factors of hypoglycemia between hypoglycemic group and non-hypoglycemic group. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to examine the risk factors for the hypoglycemia.A total of 65 males and 74 females completed the questionnaire. The mean age was 59.3 ± 12.1 year olds, the mean BMI was 28.1 ± 5.9 kg/m, and the mean HbA1C was 7.4 ± 1.1%. There was 8.6% of diabetic patients reporting hypoglycemic episodes during travel. The hypoglycemic episodes were significantly related to the numbers of crossing time zones after adjusting for possible confounders. Only 21.6% of subjects told physicians their travel plan whereas two third of the physicians did not provide pre-travel consultation.The hypoglycemic episodes sometimes occurred and were related to the numbers of crossing time zones in diabetic travelers. The proportion of pre-travel consultation was low in patients with T2DM. Besides, most of the physicians did not offer pre-travel education when patients mentioned their traveling plan. The willing and ability of physicians to offer the pre-travel diabetic education deserved further investigation.