Gold and Clarke Questionnaires Identify Different People With Insulin‐Treated Diabetes and Impaired Awareness of Hypoglycaemia in Almost 60% of Cases: A Post Hoc Analysis From the Hypo‐ <scp>METRICS</scp> Study
AIMS: Gold and Clarke questionnaires are used to identify impaired awareness of hypoglycaemia (IAH) and severe hypoglycaemic event (SHE) risk in people with diabetes (pwD). We explored their overlap, including Clarke's Hypoglycaemia Awareness Status (Clarke-HAS) subfactor, and subsection differences in SHE incidence (Gold, Clarke, overlap). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This post hoc analysis of the Hypo-METRICS study recruited pwD on insulin (type 1: T1D; type 2: T2D) with ≥ 1 hypoglycaemic event in the previous 3 months. IAH was defined as Gold ≥ 4, Clarke ≥ 4, Clarke-HAS ≥ 2. RESULTS: Gold and Clarke were completed by 232 pwT1D and 285 pwT2D (age: 47 vs. 62 years, p < 0.001; HbA1c: 56 mmol/mol (7.3%) vs. 57 mmol/mol (7.4%), p = 0.03). IAH prevalence in T1D vs. T2D was 21% vs. 26% (p = 0.1), 14% vs. 18% (p = 0.2), and 41% vs. 48% (p = 0.2) according to Gold, Clarke and Clarke-HAS. The overlap between Gold ≥ 4, Clarke ≥ 4 was 40% (T1D: 45%; T2D: 37%); between Gold ≥ 4, Clarke-HAS ≥ 2 it was 45% (T1D: 43%; T2D: 47%). The overlap between Gold ≥ 4, Clarke ≥ 4 was 41% vs. 39% in CGM vs. non-CGM users (T1D: 50% vs. 35%; T2D: 32% vs. 40%); between Gold ≥ 4, Clarke-HAS ≥ 2 it was 39% vs. 53% (T1D: 38% vs. 54%; T2D: 40% vs. 53%). In the IAH sample, SHE rate was lower in people found with IAH by Gold vs. Clarke, 9% vs. 53%, and in those assessed by Gold-Clarke overlap vs. Clarke, 20% vs. 53% (all p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Gold and Clarke show moderate consistency (37%-54%) in identifying IAH in insulin-treated diabetes, with/without CGM use, each associated with different SHE rates, indicating the two questionnaires measure different, independent aspects of IAH.
Authors
- Frans Pouwer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8172-9818)
- Mark L. Evans (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8122-8987)
- CLAIRE L. MEEK
- Vaios Koutroukas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6120-8057)
- Aikaterina Tziannou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-3445-440X)
- Patrick Divilly
- U P B Pedersen-Bjergaard
- E Renard
- Jonah Thomas
- S Heller
- Bastiaan E. de Galan
- Julia K. Mader (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7854-4233)
- Rory J. McCrimmon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3957-1981)
- Jane Speight
- Pratik Choudhary
- Gilberte Martine‐Edith
- Stephanie A. Amiel
- Uffe Søholm
Institutions
- University of Copenhagen (DK)
- Steno Diabetes Centers (DK)
- Radboud University Nijmegen (NL)
- Deakin University (AU)
- University of Leicester (GB)
- University of Dundee (GB)
- University of Southern Denmark (DK)
- King's College London (GB)
- Université de Montpellier (FR)
- Medical University of Graz (AT)
- Diabetes Australia (AU)
- Leicester General Hospital (GB)
- Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- Radboud University Medical Center (NL)
- Maastricht University (NL)
- Zealand University Hospital (DK)
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Montpellier (FR)
- St. Vincent's University Hospital (IE)
- Wellcome/MRC Institute of Metabolic Science (GB)
- King's College School (GB)
- Amsterdam University Medical Centers (NL)
- NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre (GB)
- Diabetes UK (GB)
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (NL)
- University of Sheffield (GB)
- Amsterdam UMC Location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (NL)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Diabetes Obesity and Metabolism
- Published
- 2026-05-11
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1111/dom.70869
- Primary Topic
- Diabetes Management and Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust
- Breakthrough T1D