Obesity and hypoglycaemia in type 2 diabetes mellitus outpatients on insulin therapy in Nigeria–data from the multicentre evaluation of type 2 diabetes mellitus outpatients patients on insulin therapy (METOIN) study

Background and Objective: Despite the obvious benefits of early insulin use in achieving good glycaemic control, insulin linked  overweight/obesity and hypoglycaemia are sources of concern and worry. Burden of these side effects among type 2 diabetes mellitus  (T2DM) outpatients on insulin therapy in Nigeria is unknown. Subjects and Methods: This was a prospective, cross sectional and observational study in which consenting T2DM outpatients that meet  the inclusion criteria for the study in five tertiary health facilities were simultaneously recruited and relevant data obtained via  investigator-administered questionnaire. Data obtained which included gender, arthropometric measures, hypoglycaemia and where it  was treated were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0 software. Results: A total of 245 T2DM outpatients were recruited into the study, made up of 107 (43.7%) male and 138 (56.3%) female. Of this, 121  (49.8%) patients were overweight while 70 (28.7%) were obese. Among the patients, 104 (42.4%) T2DM outpatients on insulin therapy  reported hypoglycaemia which was mild in 83 (79.8%) of the patients Conclusion: A significant number of the type 2 DM outpatients on  insulin therapy were overweight/obese with mild hypoglycaemia in a majority of them.