THE RISK OF HYPERGLYCEMIA ASSOCIATED WITH THE USE OF PRESCRIBED MEDICATIONS

Hyperglycemia is a deleterious consequence of uncontrolled diabetes and an adverse effect of many common therapeutic drugs. Identification of drug-induced hyperglycemia is necessary for reducing morbidity or mortality associated with high blood glucose levels. The aim of the present study was to assess risk of unrecognized drug-induced hyperglycemia in patients admitted to King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. All cases pertaining to hyperglycemia were identified from medical record archive of a random sample of patients admitted to KAMC, from January 2015 to December 2015. Patients with a previous history of diabetes were excluded from the study. The case/non-case method was employed to find association between identified drugs and hyperglycemia. The hyperglycemia risk was estimated by calculating the reporting odds ratios (ROR). The results reveal about one fifth of study population was admitted primarily due to hyperglycemia. A significant association for hyperglycemia has been shown with corticosteroids, immunosuppressants and anticholinergic agents with ROR = 2.63; 95% CI (1.26-5.51), ROR = 8.38; 95% CI (2.33-30.16) and ROR = 4.11; 95% CI (1.39-12.20), respectively. In contrast, the proton-pump inhibitors (omeprazole and esomeprazole) were associated with a significant reduction in hyperglycemia risk with ROR of 0.13 (95% CI 0.06-0.29). Although, there is no consistency in the reported hyperglycemic risk associated with some immunosuppressants or anticholinergic agents, the present results advocate this risk, particularly with mycophenolate mofetil, tropicamide, and cyclopentolate. Thus, further investigational studies may be required to confirm of present results and to assess the hyperglycemic risk of other drugs.