High prevalence of diabetes mellitus and hospital-related hyperglycaemia in French general wards

Abstract Aim The study evaluated the in-hospital prevalence of diabetes and hospital-related hyperglycaemia in a variety of French general wards. Methods The multicentre cross-sectional study involving nine French hospitals measured venous fasting plasma glucose (FPG) on a single day in patients hospitalized in adult medical and surgical short-term wards. Diabetes status and length of stay were recorded. Results Of the 2141 inpatients included in the study, 355 (16.5%) had known diabetes, 156 (7.3%) had screened diabetes (FPG ≥ 7 mmol/L with no diabetes history), 515 (24.1%) had impaired fasting glucose (IFG; FPG 5.5–6.9 mmol/L) and 1115 (52.1%) had normal glucose values (FPG < 5.5 mmol/L). Diabetes prevalence varied from 11% in hospitals in the west of France to 21% in hospitals in northern and eastern regions. The highest known diabetes prevalence was observed in units for cardiovascular surgery (33%), infectious diseases (27%) and kidney disorders (26%). In cancer units, one-fifth of patients had screened diabetes and one-sixth had known diabetes. Among the known diabetes patients, 127 (36%) were already being treated with insulin, while an additional 41 (12%) started insulin therapy during their hospital stay. Patients with known and screened diabetes were older (70.8 ± 12.2 and 71.1 ± 15.6 years, respectively) than the normal-glucose patients (65.6 ± 18.9 years; P < 0.001). Average length of stay was no different between known diabetes and normal-glucose patients after adjusting for age (11.3 ± 7.7 vs 10.0 ± 7.4 days; NS). Conclusion Overall, metabolic glucose disorders (known or screened diabetes and IFG) were found in 48% of inpatients in various French hospital general wards.