By PulsHealth. Updated
Research reviewed .
Overview
Insulin Delivery records the amount of insulin delivered over a saved interval. It is a cumulative quantity measured in international units (IU). The record describes delivery, rather than a prescribed dose, an insulin concentration or the amount still active in the body.
What do basal and bolus mean?
Every HealthKit insulin-delivery sample requires HKMetadataKeyInsulinDeliveryReason. Its numeric value comes from HKInsulinDeliveryReason.
| Code | Reason | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | basal | Delivery for basic metabolic needs |
| 2 | bolus | Delivery for episodic requirements |
Keep the reason attached to each sample. A total combining both reasons answers a different question from a basal-only or bolus-only total. An export without this metadata cannot reliably recover the distinction from the amount or timestamp alone.
Is the value an amount or a rate?
The quantity is an amount in IU. A pump setting in IU per hour is a rate, and millilitres describe volume. Neither can be relabeled as delivered IU. A basal interval may cover time while a bolus represents an episodic delivery; preserve the source's start and end dates rather than assuming all records are instantaneous injections.
Dividing a saved amount by its interval duration produces an average over that interval only. It does not reconstruct changes within the interval, interruptions or the underlying delivery schedule.
How should daily totals be checked?
Sum delivered amounts only after checking that records describe distinct deliveries. Multiple apps can report overlapping histories, and overlapping timestamps alone cannot tell whether two records are duplicates. Keep sample identity, source and available revision information when reconciling imports.
State how intervals crossing a day's boundary are assigned. Assigning an entire interval to its start day and splitting delivery across days require different assumptions. Gaps in a source's history do not establish that no insulin was delivered.
What can glucose and meal records add?
Blood Glucose and Dietary Carbohydrates can add timing context when corresponding records exist. Preserve delivery reason and the pairing window rather than interpreting every nearby glucose reading as the response to a specific delivery. These records do not supply an individualized dosing rule or establish causality.
What data was available for this example?
No insulin delivery records were found in the selected database window. This HealthKit type is not listed in the current PulsHealth sync catalog. Database coverage does not establish whether corresponding entries exist in Apple Health. No measured ranges, recording intervals or source comparisons are available from this example.
Understanding your records
Recording frequency, source and coverage affect what you can conclude from this data. Read the recording guide.