Therapeutic inertia in treatment of older adults with type II diabetes at high risk for hypoglycemia

Brittany Ricci; Jane Lee; Minjia Xie; Alexander Turchin

doi:10.1016/j.pcd.2024.01.015

Therapeutic inertia in treatment of older adults with type II diabetes at high risk for hypoglycemia

Prim Care Diabetes. 2024 Apr;18(2):238-240. doi: 10.1016/j.pcd.2024.01.015. Epub 2024 Feb 6.

Authors

Brittany Ricci¹, Jane Lee², Minjia Xie², Alexander Turchin³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Harvard Medical School, 25 Shattuck St, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
² School of Pharmacy, Northeastern University, 140 Fenway, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
³ Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Hypertension, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Harvard Medical School, 25 Shattuck St, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Electronic address: aturchin@bwh.harvard.edu.

PMID: 38320937
DOI: 10.1016/j.pcd.2024.01.015

Abstract

Patients 80 years or older with HbA1c <7.0% (53 mmol/mol) treated with multiple daily insulin injections had low rates of rapid-acting insulin deprescription and initiation of diabetes medications with lower risk of hypoglycemia. Further investigation is needed to elucidate factors contributing to potentially inappropriately aggressive treatment of these patients.

Keywords: Deprescribing; Hypoglycemia; Insulin.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aged
Blood Glucose
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2* / diagnosis
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2* / drug therapy
Glycated Hemoglobin
Humans
Hypoglycemia* / chemically induced
Hypoglycemia* / diagnosis
Hypoglycemic Agents / adverse effects
Insulin / therapeutic use

Substances

Hypoglycemic Agents
Blood Glucose
Glycated Hemoglobin
Insulin