Interoceptive Awareness Is Associated With Impaired Awareness of Hypoglycemia in Adults With Type 1 Diabetes

Objective: To assess the association between impaired awareness of hypoglycemia (IAH) and interoceptive awareness in type 1 diabetes.

Research design and methods: A total of 154 adults with type 1 diabetes completed IAH surveys and the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness, Version 2 (MAIA-2). Logistic regression was performed for assessment of associations between IAH and MAIA-2, accounting for covariates.

Results: Significant relationships were observed between IAH and two MAIA-2 scales. Each 1-point increase on the Not-Worrying subscale was associated with 87% increased odds of IAH (odds ratio 1.87, CI 1.01-3.46) and on the Attention Regulation subscale was associated with 72% decreased odds of IAH (0.28, 0.12-0.66). Compared with scoring >90th percentile for Attention Regulation, scoring <10th percentile and scoring in the 10th-90th percentiles were associated with 71-fold (71.26, 3.42-1482.10) and 12-fold (12.73, 1.19-135.57) increased odds of IAH, respectively.

Conclusions: Less worry about and reduced ability to sustain and control attention to body sensations were associated with significantly increased odds of IAH.