Dear Sir,
We read with interest the article by Rani et al.,[1] where they concluded that the main causes of hospitalisations of diabetic patients are infections (mostly soft skin) and metabolic and cardiovascular infections. These conclusions are striking because the authors only assessed three parameters, missing valuable information.
The authors conducted a retrospective observational study of patients with diabetes aged 18 years and older. Data were acquired from the medical records of a hospital in southern India. The authors only collected demographic data, causes of admission and definitive diagnosis.[1] We believe the methodology was adequate, but they could also use other parameters such as socio-demographic characteristics (sex, residence, age, and race), behavioural factors (alcohol consumption and lifestyle), medical conditions (body mass index, duration of illness, comorbidities, complications, blood pressure, reason for admission, admission and discharge medications, and treatment modality), and laboratory data (haematocrit, creatinine, and haemoglobin A1c).[2–5] This would result in efficient primary care management using evidence-based clinical guidelines to prevent complications,[3] and control readmission after hospital discharge.[5] Implementing strategies to reduce hospitalisations that incur huge monetary costs and increase morbidity among patients with diabetes.[1]
We thank the authors for sharing their research, thus motivating us to investigate approaches or parameters that lead us as health professionals to improve strategies in diabetic patients.
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Conflicts of Interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
REFERENCES
1. Rani S, Rahman SM, Pricilla RA, David KV. Reasons for hospitalisation among patients with diabetes in a secondary care hospital in South India:A retrospective study. Indian J Endocrinol Metab 2022;26:127–32.
2. Regassa LD, Tola A. Magnitude and predictors of hospital admission, readmission, and length of stay among patients with type 2 diabetes at public hospitals of Eastern Ethiopia:A retrospective cohort study. BMC Endocr Disord 2021;21:74.
3. Mtshali S, Mahomed O. Prevalence, patient predictors, and referral patterns for diabetes-related complications treated at a central hospital in KwaZulu Natal. Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes 2021;14:4181–8.
4. Shikdar YA, Mosli HH, Shikdar NA, Alshanketi RM, Shikdar NA, Malebary RM, et al. Diabetes mellitus and related admission factors among hospitalized patients in King Abdul-Aziz University Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Cureus 2022;14:e25312.
5. Patel N, Swami J, Pinkhasova D, Karslioglu French E, Hlasnik D, Delisi K, et al. Sex differences in glycemic measures, complications, discharge disposition, and postdischarge emergency room visits and readmission among non-critically ill, hospitalized patients with diabetes. BMJ Open Diabetes Res Care 2022;10:e002722.
