"Hyperglycemia aversiveness": Investigating an overlooked problem among adults with type 1 diabetes

Abstract

Aims: To investigate the problem of adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D) who purposefully keep their glucose levels low, and to explore contributors to, and possible impact of, this potentially dangerous phenomenon.

Methods: We developed three self-report items as a means to identify individuals who endorse a consistent preference for hypoglycemia over hyperglycemia ("Hyperglycemia Aversives"). In a large T1D survey (n = 219), validated measures of well-being, emotional distress and hypoglycemic awareness, and glycemic metrics derived from the past 14-day period, were used to examine whether Hyperglycemia Aversives could be characterized as a distinct group.

Results: Hyperglycemia Aversives comprised 16.4% of the sample. This unique group demonstrated significantly higher mean %TIR (71.6% vs. 63.6%) and %TBR (5.1% vs. 2.2%), lower mean %TAR > 250 mg/dL (6.0% vs. 10.1%), and higher rates of impaired hypoglycemic awareness and recurrent severe hypoglycemia episodes than the remaining study sample ("Non-Aversives") (all ps < 0.01). The two groups did not demonstrate significant differences on psychosocial outcomes.

Conclusions: We identified a group of T1D adults reporting a consistent preference for hypoglycemia over hyperglycemia. These individuals achieve significantly greater %TIR and less %TAR, but at the cost of greater %TBR and more frequent severe hypoglycemia episodes.

Keywords: Fear; Hyperglycemia; Hypoglycemia; Preference; Type 1 diabetes.