Skittles(TM) Effective for Treating Hypoglycemia in Children With Type 1 Diabetes

July 7, 2008 updated by: University of Calgary

The Effectiveness of Glucose, Sucrose and Fructose in Treating Hypoglycemia in Children With Type 1 Diabetes

The purpose of this study is to determine the most effective treatment option for managing naturally occurring hypoglycemia in children with type 1 diabetes.

Hypotheses:

  1. Sucrose and Fructose are equally effective as glucose in the treatment of spontaneous hypoglycemia in children with type 1 diabetes.
  2. Children and teens will use a variety of treatment practices for the management of hypoglycemia.
  3. Children and teens will prefer the mode of treatment that was most effective in treating hypoglycemia.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

An open labeled, randomized, cross-over design will be used. Each subject will treat 5 hypoglycemic events with glucose, 5 with sucrose and 5 with fructose. Subjects will be randomized into order of treatment.

Primary Objective:

  1. To determine if sucrose and fructose are equally effective as glucose in the treatment of spontaneous hypoglycemia in children with type 1 diabetes.

    Secondary Objectives:

  2. To determine present hypoglycemia treatment practices of children and teens with type 1 diabetes (prior to entry into the study).
  3. To determine preferred mode of treatment for hypoglycemia after completing the study.

Inclusion Criteria:

The sample will consist of 65 individuals with a history of type 1 diabetes (based on clinical presentation) for three or more months and who are between the ages of 3 and 18 years. All eligible participants will be patients of the Alberta Children's Hospital Diabetes Clinic.

Exclusion Criteria:

Individuals with the following conditions/circumstances will be excluded from the study:

  • adrenal insufficiency
  • uncompensated hypothyroidism
  • clinical autonomic neuropathy
  • celiac disease
  • lack of family support
  • unwilling or unable to follow the study protocol
  • subjects with less than 4 hypoglycemic events per month

Instruments:

Blood glucose will be measured with a blood glucose meter. All meters will have a lab to meter comparison performed. In accordance with the 1998 Clinical Practice Guidelines for Diabetes Management in Canada, an acceptable meter value will be +15% of the lab value (7). Participants will be provided with a complimentary meter and strips.

All participants will be provided with a digital timer to enable accurate 15 minute timing of post treatment blood glucose.

A Demographic and Pre-Study Data tool has been developed to collect pre-study information (see Appendix B) as well as a Low Blood Glucose Treatment Log to record pre- and post-treatment blood glucose results (see Appendix C).

Study Procedure:

A letter inviting participation in the study will be mailed to all eligible participants (see Appendix D). Further recruitment will be done during clinic appointments. Six months will be allocated for recruitment of subjects. Subjects will meet with the study research assistant and informed and signed consent will be obtained. Participants will be assigned a study number based on their order of recruitment. The research assistant and participant will not determine treatment order. Each participant will be assigned a treatment order based on a randomization table (See Table 1).

The research assistant will also obtain demographic data and information on present hypoglycemia treatment practices, explain the study protocol, and provide Study Protocol instructions (see Appendix E). The lab/meter comparison will be obtained prior to data collection.

The study protocol is as follows:

  • Hypoglycemia will be confirmed with a blood glucose test.
  • If blood glucose is less than 4.0 mmol/L it will be treated with pre-packaged treatments and in the order determined by randomization.
  • The blood glucose will be re-tested 15 minutes after treatment.
  • If the blood glucose is still less than 4.0 mmol/L, it will be treated again as per study protocol and then re-tested 15 minutes later.
  • If the next meal or snack is more than 1 hour away, a snack containing 15 g of carbohydrate and a protein will be eaten.
  • Participants will record blood glucose results and treatment method on the Low Blood Glucose Treatment Log.

If participants can not follow the above outlined protocol, they will be instructed to treat as per usual practice and not record data. This will mean that most hypoglycemic events treated as per protocol will likely occur when children are with their parents or in the comfort of their own homes.

Assuming that children and teens will experience 1 to 3 hypoglycemic events per week, it is anticipated that data collection will occur over a 5 to 15 week period. The research assistant will call participants every two weeks to monitor study progress. Once the subject has treated 15 hypoglycemic episodes as per study protocol and completed the Low Blood Glucose Treatment Log, they will return it in a pre-addressed and stamped envelope. There will be a question at the end of the Low Blood Glucose Treatment Log asking preferred method of hypoglycemia treatment following completion of the study.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

33

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Alberta
      • Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T3B 6A8
        • Alberta Children's Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

3 years to 18 years (Child, Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Type 1 diabetes mellitus
  • Diagnosed 6 or more months ago
  • Patient of the Alberta Children's Hospital Diabetes Clinic

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Adrenal insufficiency
  • Uncompensated hypothyroidism
  • Clinical autonomic neuropathy
  • Celiac disease
  • Lack of family support
  • Unwilling or unable to follow the study protocol
  • Subjects with less than 4 hypoglycemic events per month

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Glucose
BD glucose tablets (TM) are taken PO in response to a hypoglycemic event by participants randomized to this arm
Dietary supplement: Ingestion of BD glucose tablets (TM)
Hypoglycemia (blood glucose is less than 4.0 mmol/L as measured by a glucose meter) will be treated with BD glucose tablets by giving 10g of glucose in children 10 and under. Children and teens over 10 will receive 15g of glucose.
Active Comparator: Fructose
Fruit to Go (TM) is taken PO in response to a hypoglycemic event by participants randomized to this arm
Dietary supplement: Ingestion of Fruit to Go (TM)
Hypoglycemia (blood glucose is less than 4.0 mmol/L as measured by a glucose meter) will be treated with Fruit to Go by giving 10g of fructose in children 10 and under. Children and teens over 10 will receive 15g of fructose.
Active Comparator: Sucrose
Skittles (TM) are taken PO in response to a hypoglycemic event by participants randomized to this arm
Dietary supplement: Ingestion of Skittles (TM)
Hypoglycemia (blood glucose is less than 4.0 mmol/L as measured by a glucose meter) will be treated with Skittle by giving 10g of sucrose in children 10 and under. Children and teens over 10 will receive 15g of sucrose.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
To determine if sucrose and fructose are equally effective as glucose in the treatment of spontaneous hypoglycemia in children with type 1 diabetes.
Time Frame: 15 minutes
15 minutes

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
To determine present hypoglycemia treatment practices of children and teens with type 1 diabetes (prior to entry into the study).
To determine preferred mode of treatment for hypoglycemia after completing the study.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Calgary

Collaborators

Canadian Diabetes Association
Becton, Dickinson and Company
LifeScan Canada

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Allison Husband, RN, MN, CDE, Alberta Children's Hospital

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

August 1, 2003

Primary Completion (Actual)

September 1, 2006

Study Completion (Actual)

September 1, 2006

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 25, 2008

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 25, 2008

First Posted (Estimate)

June 27, 2008

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

July 9, 2008

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 7, 2008

Last Verified

July 1, 2008

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 17089-AH

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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