Exploring the factors associated with lipohypertrophy in insulin-treated type 2 diabetes patients in a tertiary care hospital in Mumbai, India

This exploratory study reports the prevalence of lipohypertrophy (LH) in insulin-treated type 2 diabetes patients attending a private tertiary hospital in Mumbai, India, and explores the factors associated with this condition.

A total of 96 patients attending the outpatient department, completed an interviewer-administered questionnaire followed by an examination of insulin injection sites for the presence of LH by a trained diabetes nurse educator.

Nearly 68% of the respondents had LH. Most patients (82%) had LH on at least two injection sites, with the frontal areas of the right and left side of the abdomen being the most common sites. Despite a high prevalence of LH, the majority of patients were unaware that they had the condition (77%) and could not identify the causes (74%). Half of the patients reported awareness about the different sites for injecting insulin, injection techniques, and the need for rotating injection sites. Only 26% always rotated injection sites, while 16% changed needles more than half of the time in the week prior to the interview. Bivariate analysis found higher number of years with diabetes and on insulin and a higher insulin dose per day as significant factors (p value < 0.05). Logistic regression showed a strong relationship between the presence of LH and the number of years on insulin (p value < 0.05). The number of years on insulin for patients with and without LH averaged 8.2 and 3.7, respectively.

Findings highlight a gap in patients’ knowledge and management of LH, and call for a hospital-wide intervention encompassing patient education and provider sensitization.