OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence of symptoms attributed to hypoglycaemia that are reported by a general female population of the UK. METHOD: A health and well-being questionnaire, including questions relating to symptoms of low blood 'sugar', medical history and anthropometry, was administered by post to 2000 randomly selected women (17-50 years) in Nottinghamshire. To avoid biasing responses, participants were not made aware of the specific focus of the study. RESULTS: One thousand one hundred and thirty-six women returned the questionnaire (56.8% response rate). After exclusions, 37.9% of respondents reported symptoms that they attributed to hypoglycaemia, with a median of four episodes reported per month. A significant variation in the reporting of symptoms was found across body mass index (BMI) categories, with the highest prevalence of symptomatic subjects being found at the lowest BMI range (P<.05). CONCLUSION: More than a third of women in the UK report experiencing symptoms that they attribute to hypoglycaemia. Body mass index appears to be related to the experiencing of symptoms.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence of symptoms attributed to hypoglycaemia that are reported by a general female population of the UK. METHOD: A health and well-being questionnaire, including questions relating to symptoms of low blood 'sugar', medical history and anthropometry, was administered by post to 2000 randomly selected women (17-50 years) in Nottinghamshire. To avoid biasing responses, participants were not made aware of the specific focus of the study. RESULTS: One thousand one hundred and thirty-six women returned the questionnaire (56.8% response rate). After exclusions, 37.9% of respondents reported symptoms that they attributed to hypoglycaemia, with a median of four episodes reported per month. A significant variation in the reporting of symptoms was found across body mass index (BMI) categories, with the highest prevalence of symptomatic subjects being found at the lowest BMI range (P<.05). CONCLUSION: More than a third of women in the UK report experiencing symptoms that they attribute to hypoglycaemia. Body mass index appears to be related to the experiencing of symptoms.
Authors: James E Gangwisch; Lauren Hale; Lorena Garcia; Dolores Malaspina; Mark G Opler; Martha E Payne; Rebecca C Rossom; Dorothy Lane Journal: Am J Clin Nutr Date: 2015-06-24 Impact factor: 7.045