Evaluation of % CV and average glucose derived from pre‐ and postprandial 6‐point glucose measurements for assessing hypoglycemia risk

Aims/Introduction This study determined the usefulness of coefficient of variation (%CV) and average glucose (AG) from 6‐point pre‐ and postprandial blood glucose measurements in assessing hypoglycemia risk in type 2 diabetes. Materials and Methods We retrospectively analyzed 24‐h continuous glucose monitoring data of 233 patients treated with sulfonylureas or insulin. Hypoglycemia was defined as level 1 (<70 mg/dL) or level 2 (<54 mg/dL). Results The 6‐point AG and %CV were 182.9 mg/dL and 23.9%, respectively, for all patients, whereas they were 155.8 mg/dL and 29.8% in patients with level 1 hypoglycemia. Receiver operating characteristic analysis determined cutoff values of 167.7 mg/dL for AG and 21.6% for %CV for predicting level 1 hypoglycemia. Using these thresholds as hypoglycemia risk factors, the incidence was evaluated in the three groups according to the number of risk factors. The incidence of both levels 1 and 2 hypoglycemia increased significantly with increase in the number of risk factors. Compared to risk factor‐free patients, the odds ratios for level 1 hypoglycemia were 12.1 and 1.4 in those with two and one risk factor, respectively. Conclusions Our findings suggest that the AG and %CV derived from 6‐point glucose measurements can be potentially useful for detecting hypoglycemia risk.