Abstract
Many studies have explored risk factors associated with Hypoglycemia (HG) and examined the variation in healthcare utilization among HG patients. However, most of these studies failed to integrate a comprehensive list of personal risk factors in their investigations. This empirical study employed the Behavioral Model (BM) of health care utilization as a framework to investigate diabetes’ hospitalizations with HG. The national inpatient sample with all non-pregnant adult patients admitted to hospitals’ emergency departments and diagnosed with HG from 2012 to 2014 was used. Personal factors were grouped as predictors of the length of stay and the total charges incurred for hospitalization. High-risk profiles of hospitalized HG patients were identified. The analysis shows the need for care factors are the most influential predictors for lengthy hospitalization. The predisposing factors have a limited influence, while enabling factors influence the variation in hospital total charges. The presence of renal disease and diabetes mellitus (DM) complications played a key role in predicting hospital utilization. Furthermore, age, socio-economic status (SES), and the geographical location of the patients were also found to be vital factors in determining the variability in utilization among HG patients. Findings provide practical applications for targeting the high-risk HG patients for interventions.
Highlights
Diabetes is a major health problem [1]
When examining the selected cases, the variables had missing data, and the missing data for each of the variables constituted less than 5%
Results of this study showed that the geographical location of diabetic patients with HG impacts the variation in total charge of hospitalization
Summary
Diabetes is a major health problem [1]. Despite many efforts to combat this disease, factors influencing hospital utilization by patients with diabetes are poorly understood. Doctors advise their patients to change their lifestyle through improving nutrition, and maintaining regular physical exercise [2]. The efforts aim to achieve better control of glucose levels in the patients’ blood. Few patients succeed in controlling their condition with lifestyle changes. Most patients require supplementation with “glucose-lowering medications”, which help in reducing the amount of glucose circulating in their blood to achieve what is known as a state of “glycemic control” [3]
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