Studies had shown that hyperglycemia during a hospital stay is associated with serious adverse outcomes. A recent study reported that hyperglycemia during hospitalization affects more than half of the hospitalized patients and is associated with a longer length of stay.

The study included 210 subjects, aged 60 ± 19 years. Data were collected from the medical records of hospitalized patients. Demographic data and laboratory data, previous diabetes mellitus (DM) history, current main diagnosis, unit of hospitalization and the two highest capillary blood glucose values from the analyzed period were recorded for each patient. Length of hospital stay (LOS) was obtained from electronic clinical records.

The results pointed out that about 54% of the patients developed hyperglycemia ≥ 140 mg/L. and 31% of these had a previous history of diabetes. 29% had stress hyperglycemia (SHG). Patients with a history of DM had higher average blood glucose than those with SHG and a greater percentage of cases with blood glucose above 180 mg/dL.

In summary, the research strongly correlates hyperglycemia during hospitalization with a longer length of stay.

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