Overtreatment and hypoglycemia prevalence in geriatric patients with type-2 diabetes in the Turkish population
Acta Endocrinologica, cilt.15, sa.3, ss.311-316, 2019 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 15 Sayı: 3
- Basım Tarihi: 2019
- Doi Numarası: 10.4183/aeb.2019.311
- Dergi Adı: Acta Endocrinologica
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.311-316
- Anahtar Kelimeler: diabetes, epidemiology, hypoglycemia, over-treatment, Turkey
- Sağlık Bilimleri Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Objective. To determine the prevalence of overtreatment and hypoglycemia in Turkish type-2 diabetes patients and to identify the risk factors. Methods. Patients ≥ 65 years, having a minimum 5 years of type-2 diabetes, were included in the study. Patients’ body mass index, mean HbA1c level, disease onset and medications related with their co-morbidities were recorded. Over-treatment is defined as the use of non-metformin therapies despite having HbA1c levels < 7%. A history of hypoglycemia episodes in the last three months and patients’ home blood glucose measurements were recorded. Factors relating to hypoglycemia and over-treatment were analyzed. Results. After applying criteria, 755 patients were included in the study: 728 patients (96.4%) had at least one comorbidity. 257 patients (34%) were found to have HbA1c levels < 7%. 217 of them (84.4%) were using non-metformin therapies. 497 patients (65.8%) were using insulin. The overtreatment prevalence in the ≥ 65 years group was 28.7%. The over-treatment ratio in ≥ 80 years group was 28.2%. Hypoglycemia prevalence in the last three months was 23.3%. It was 22.7% for patients ≥ 80 years. Mean age, disease duration, body mass index, insulin usage and doses were found to be significantly different in over-treated patients compared to the others. Conclusions. This study showed that despite recent guidelines, there is still a considerable amount of over-treated geriatric patients who are at risk of hypoglycemia and related morbidity and mortality. Insulinization rate was high. Physicians should not avoid de-intensifying the treatment of geriatric patients who have multiple co-morbidities.