Estimates on the incidence of antidiabetic drug-induced severe hypoglycaemia in Hong Kong.

In order to estimate the incidence of severe hypoglycaemia (defined as episodes severe enough to require hospitalization in general medical wards) among known diabetics in Hong Kong in 1990, both the total number of such admissions to the Prince of Wales Hospital and the age and sex distribution and number of known diabetics among its catchment population were defined. The latter was derived from the 1991 census and two studies or the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in Chinese subjects in the New Territories East region in 1987 and 1990. The incidence of severe hypoglycaemia was generally higher in women than in men and in older than in younger subjects. The incidence was 15-19 times higher in subjects aged >or=60 years than in those aged <or=59 years (men 3.51 versus 0.17%, women 6.86 versus 0.43%, overall 5.16 versus 0.29%). As many as 24.16% of the subjects aged 70-74 years had severe hypoglycaemia in 1990. The overall incidence of severe hypoglycaemia in all known diabetics was 1.40%. Based on the data from a drug utilization study (70.24% and 5.93% of diabetics receiving sulphonylureas and insulins, respectively), it could be estimated that in 1990, the incidence of hypoglycaemia requiring hospitalization in general medical wards was 1.42% for sulphonylureas and 6.84% for insulins. Copyright 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.