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.