The relationship between hypoglycaemia, body mass index and quality of life among patients with type 1 diabetes: observations from the DEPICT clinical trial programme

AIMS: To demonstrate the relationships between hypoglycaemia, body mass index (BMI) and quality of life, and to examine the impact of dapagliflozin on patient-reported treatment satisfaction in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), using data from the DEPICT (Dapagliflozin Evaluation in Patients With Inadequately Controlled Type 1 Diabetes) clinical trial programme. METHODS: A two-stage modelling approach, using a linear regression framework, was adopted to evaluate the relationship between hypoglycaemia, BMI and quality of life. Hypoglycaemia fear score (HFS) was modelled as a function of hypoglycaemic events (non-severe documented symptomatic and severe) and, subsequently, quality of life (as measured by the EQ-5D questionnaire) was modelled as a function of HFS and BMI. A linked evidence approach correlated the relationship between treatment, hypoglycaemic events and glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), to the relationships captured within the regression models. The proportion of patients achieving increased patient-reported treatment satisfaction, as measured by the Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire (DTSQ) total score, was compared between study arms. RESULTS: Incident severe hypoglycaemia was associated with significantly higher HFS (coefficient estimate [CE] 14.62, P=0.004). The frequency of symptomatic hypoglycaemic events was associated with a significantly higher HFS (log transposed, CE 1.32, P=0.026). Higher HFS and higher BMI were both independently associated with a significantly lower EQ-5D score (HFS: CE -0.0024, P /=3-point increases in DTSQ total score compared to patients in the placebo group. CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrated that increases in hypoglycaemia and BMI were associated with reduced quality of life in people with T1DM. Dapagliflozin-treated patients achieved a reduction in HbA1c whilst avoiding an increase in hypoglycaemic events. The results also showed that treatment with dapagliflozin was associated with an improvement in treatment satisfaction.