Utility Values for Non-Severe Hypoglycaemia in Diabetes
Author Information
Author(s): Adrian R. Levy, Torsten Christensen, Jeffrey A. Johnson
Primary Institution: Oxford Outcomes Ltd.
Hypothesis
To elicit societal and patient utilities associated with diabetic symptomatic non-severe hypoglycaemia for three health states: rare, intermittent, and frequent hypoglycaemia episodes.
Conclusion
There is a demonstrable utility loss associated with hypoglycaemia, with clinical importance increasing with the frequency of episodes.
Supporting Evidence
- Each hypoglycaemic episode was associated with a reduction in utility.
- Respondents with diabetes reported slightly higher utility values than those without diabetes.
- Mean utility for diabetes without hypoglycaemia ranged from 0.88 to 0.97.
- Utility loss was clinically important with as few as ten symptomatic episodes per year.
Takeaway
When people with diabetes have low blood sugar, it makes them feel worse, and the more often it happens, the worse they feel.
Methodology
Utilities were elicited using the time trade-off method from respondents with and without diabetes.
Potential Biases
Respondents without diabetes were compensated, which may have influenced their responses.
Limitations
The study was conducted in only one city in each country, which may limit the generalizability of the findings.
Participant Demographics
51 respondents with diabetes in Canada, 79 without diabetes in Canada, and 75 without diabetes in the UK.
Statistical Information
P-Value
0.0032 for respondents without diabetes, 0.0033 for respondents with diabetes.
Confidence Interval
[0.67–1.00] for diabetes, [0.69–1.00] for rare hypoglycaemia, [0.63–1.00] for intermittent hypoglycaemia, [0.42–1.00] for frequent hypoglycaemia.
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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