Unreliability of reports of hypoglycaemia by diabetic patients

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Abstract
We questioned consecutive patients attending diabetic clinics in two hospitals over four weeks, including in the study only those with a partner or close relative at home. Patients completed a questionnaire in the clinic and were given a related version for their partner to complete and return by post. Those not returning questionnaires were contacted by telephone, and if they then failed to respond they were excluded from further analysis. We defined severe hypoglycaemia as an attack resulting in coma or needing outside help. Unawareness of hypoglycaemia was defined as absent (all episodes recognised), partial (some episodes unrecognised), or complete (all episodes unrecognised). Strengths of agreement were measured by calculating the (kappa) statistic.3