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Excess hypoglycaemia-related hospitalisation in older adults with comorbid type 2 diabetes and dementia: a UK Biobank cohort study
Donat Ergin, B.; Au-Yeung, B.; Mattishent, K.; Khondoker, M.; Minihane, A. M.; Holt, R. I.; Amin, J.; Dhatariya et al.. medRxiv (preprint), 2026-09-16
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
It remains unclear whether the combined conditions confer an excess risk of hypoglycaemia-related hospitalisation beyond the risks associated with either condition alone. AimTo determine whether comorbid T2DM and dementia are associated with excess hypoglycaemia-related hospitalisation. Secondary aims were to characterise overall hospital admissions, falls-related admissions, hyperglycaemia-related admissions and mortality across disease states. Hypoglycaemia-related hospitalisation occurred in 6.61% of participants while living with both conditions, compared with 1.88% with T2DM only, 0.91% with dementia only and 0.15% with neither condition. Comorbidity was also associated with the highest overall admission, falls and mortality burden, but these outcomes did not show clear positive additive interactions. The combined hazard substantially exceeded that expected from adding the separate relative hazards associated with each condition. These findings support prioritising safer, cognitively appropriate glycaemic management in this high-risk population.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Donat Ergin, B., Au-Yeung, B., Mattishent, K., Khondoker, M., Minihane, A. M., Holt, R. I., et al. (2026). Excess hypoglycaemia-related hospitalisation in older adults with comorbid type 2 diabetes and dementia: a UK Biobank cohort study. medRxiv (preprint). https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.09.15.26363121
Vancouver
Donat Ergin B, Au-Yeung B, Mattishent K, Khondoker M, Minihane AM, Holt RI, et al. Excess hypoglycaemia-related hospitalisation in older adults with comorbid type 2 diabetes and dementia: a UK Biobank cohort study. medRxiv (preprint). 2026. doi:10.64898/2026.09.15.26363121.
BibTeX
@article{donatergin2026-362b8dca,
author = {Donat Ergin, B. and Au-Yeung, B. and Mattishent, K. and Khondoker, M. and Minihane, A. M. and Holt, R. I. and Amin, J. and Dhatariya and others},
title = {{Excess hypoglycaemia-related hospitalisation in older adults with comorbid type 2 diabetes and dementia: a UK Biobank cohort study}},
journal = {medRxiv (preprint)},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.15.26363121},
url = {https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.09.15.26363121}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- It remains unclear whether the combined conditions confer an excess risk of hypoglycaemia-related hospitalisation beyond the risks associated with either condition alone.
- AimTo determine whether comorbid T2DM and dementia are associated with excess hypoglycaemia-related hospitalisation.
- Secondary aims were to characterise overall hospital admissions, falls-related admissions, hyperglycaemia-related admissions and mortality across disease states.
- Hypoglycaemia-related hospitalisation occurred in 6.61% of participants while living with both conditions, compared with 1.88% with T2DM only, 0.91% with dementia only and 0.15% with neither condition.
- Comorbidity was also associated with the highest overall admission, falls and mortality burden, but these outcomes did not show clear positive additive interactions.
Why it matters
This study found that people with both type 2 diabetes and dementia were hospitalized for low blood sugar far more often than those with either condition alone. It suggests that safer blood sugar management is needed for this group, but it does not test any treatment for Alzheimer's disease itself.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Alzheimer's in numbers →
Study details
- Study designlongitudinal study
- Participants329,566
- Effect size5.6%; 1.9%; 0.2%
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 16/100
Preprint — not yet peer-reviewed. It scored 40 on the same rubric, but non-peer-reviewed sources are capped at 16, so it shows as 16. Scored zero for randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on impact for its field and year, so that was left out: it earned 38 of the 94 points we could judge it on, which is 40 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 2 / 10 | Tier 4 — not a peer-reviewed journal (medRxiv (preprint)) |
| Journal's citation record | 0 / 4 | Not a journal article, so the journal's record does not count |
| Study design | 7 / 12 | A longitudinal study following the same people over time |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 4 / 10 | Preprint — not yet peer-reviewed. Hosted on a preprint server. |
| How recent | 5 / 5 | 2026 — within 1 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 4 / 4 | 329,566 participants |
| Effect reported | 2 / 3 | Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 0 / 7 | Cited 0 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 0 / 5 | 0.0 citations a year over 2 year(s) since 2026 |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 0 / 4 | Cited 0 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Michael Hornberger: h-index 67 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | University of Southampton: institution h-index 938 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 1 / 2 | Not in PubMed, but has a DOI |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Points | 38 / 94 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 38 of the 94 points we could judge it on is 40 out of 100. |
| Total | 40 / 100 | Capped to 16 because this is not a peer-reviewed article. |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
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Also tagged “incidence”
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