{"id":9113,"date":"2024-02-06T20:58:01","date_gmt":"2024-02-07T01:58:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/type1support.ca\/how-to-manage-hyperglycemia-more-accurately-with-the-correction-factor\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T10:28:44","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T15:28:44","slug":"how-to-manage-hyperglycemia-more-accurately-with-the-correction-factor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/type1support.naracreative.com\/en\/how-to-manage-hyperglycemia-more-accurately-with-the-correction-factor\/","title":{"rendered":"How to manage hyperglycemia more accurately with the correction factor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hyperglycemia<\/a> (blood sugar > 10\u00a0mmol\/L)\u2014just like hypoglycemia<\/a> (blood sugar < 4.0\u00a0mmol\/L)\u2014is one of the many challenges faced by people with type\u00a01 diabetes (T1D). There are many ways to bring down blood sugar levels<\/a> that are too high (e.g., drinking water, moving around, waiting for blood sugar to return to target levels). When these fail, insulin may be necessary.<\/p>\n

Whether you use injections or a pump, the best way to accurately determine the dose of insulin to correct hyperglycemia is using an insulin sensitivity factor, or correction factor<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s break it down together.<\/p>\n

How insulin impacts your blood sugar levels\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n

The correction factor is determined based on your insulin sensitivity, i.e. how an insulin unit impacts your blood sugar. This is why it\u2019s also known as the insulin sensitivity factor.<\/p>\n

For instance, if you have a correction factor of 5, this means that each unit of rapid-acting insulin administered lowers your blood sugar by an average of 5\u00a0mmol\/L. Likewise, if you have a correction factor of 2, each insulin unit will lower your blood sugar by an average of 2\u00a0mmol\/L.<\/p>\n

The higher<\/b> the correction factor<\/b>, the more insulin sensitive the body is<\/b>. Therefore, correcting high blood sugar levels will require less insulin<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Conversely, the lower<\/b> the correction factor<\/b>, the less insulin sensitive the body is<\/b>. Therefore, a higher dose<\/b> of insulin will be required to correct high blood sugar levels.<\/p>\n

The correction factor generally limits glycemic fluctuations, such as hypoglycemia as a result of overcorrection.<\/p>\n

The correction factor is determined based on the total daily dose of insulin<\/b><\/h2>\n

Your initial correction factor is usually determined by your healthcare team. You can then learn to adjust it on your own.<\/p>\n

In most insulin pumps<\/a>, the correction factor is programmed right at set-up and can be changed at any time. A different value can also be entered for different times of the day and night.<\/p>\n

Certain hybrid closed-loop systems<\/a>, or artificial pancreases, don\u2019t allow the correction factor setting to be changed manually, as it is evaluated and adjusted automatically by the pump algorithm. Ask your healthcare team whether you can adjust this setting in your pump or not.<\/p>\n

Your healthcare team will determine your correction factor taking into account your average total daily dose of insulin, including meal and snack boluses, correction boluses and long-acting insulin (for those who use injections) or basal rate (for those who use a pump). The correction factor is calculated according to the following formula:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Example:<\/b><\/p>\n

If your total daily insulin dose is 31 units, your sensitivity factor will be 3.22\u00a0mmol\/L (100\/31 = 3.22).<\/p>\n

The result is generally rounded up. In this example, rounding up to 3.5 will be safer. In fact, the higher the correction factor is, the lower the correction bolus will be.<\/p>\n

Determining a correction bolus using the correction factor\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n

Once you know your correction factor, you can use it to determine the correction bolus, or the dose of insulin needed to correct high blood sugar.<\/p>\n

For instance, let\u2019s say your blood sugar level is 19\u00a0mmol\/L and you want to bring it down to 7\u00a0mmol\/L. If your correction factor is 4 (i.e., one unit of insulin lowers your blood sugar by an average of 4\u00a0mmol\/L), here\u2019s how you would calculate the correction bolus:<\/p>\n