What does the term insulin sliding scale describe?

• A. The term sliding scale refers to the progressive increase in the pre-meal or nighttime insulin dose based on predefined blood glucose ranges.
• B. The sliding scale is a fixed dose before meals.
• C. Sliding scale insulin is only given at night.
• D. Sliding scale is used to determine insulin infusion rate during pump use.

Answer: (A)

Sliding scale insulin is a dosing approach where the amount of insulin given before meals (and sometimes at bedtime) is determined by a chart that maps current blood glucose to a corresponding number of insulin units. The higher the glucose, the more units are given; closer to the target range, fewer units are used or none at all. This setup uses predefined blood glucose ranges to guide dose adjustments, rather than a fixed pre-meal amount. It isn’t limited to nighttime or to IV infusion rates in a pump, and it describes subcutaneous dosing aimed at correcting hyperglycemia.