Role and prevalence of impaired awareness of hypoglycaemia in ambulance service attendances to people who have had a severe hypoglycaemic emergency: a mixed-methods study.

The prevalence of impaired awareness of hypoglycaemia among those who require an ambulance following a hypoglycaemic event is more than twice that found in the general population of people with diabetes. This may be because the experiences of impaired awareness in people who require an ambulance following a severe hypoglycaemic event differ to those who do not. This study provides important information to guide future prehospital clinical practice, and to develop and evaluate theoretically informed interventions. Improvements in prehospital care for this patient population could lead to global improvements in health outcomes and decreased service costs.