Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: The average life expectancy and the prevalence of diabetes are increasing. Among the elderly population, type 2 diabetes is a growing problem, with a large proportion of newly diagnosed diabetics. Treating elderly diabetes can present unique challenges. Impaired cognitive and physical functioning among some elderly patients can make adjusting to a diabetes care routine more difficult and thus, contribute to the complexity of managing diabetes.

Aims: To determine in an elderly diabetic population, the frequency of related disorders, the mortality, and outcomes compared with other age group.

Method: The medical records of all diabetics admitted between 2003 and 2007 were studied retrospectively. A comparison was made between two age groups: elderly patients (65 years) with diabetes. The presence of associated conditions and outcome parameters were entered into a database and analysed statistically.

Results: The prevalence of diabetes among the admitted medical cases was 10% (398), and elderly patients represented 27% (66) of these. Diabetic foot disease (30.3%) and hyperglycemia emergencies (27.2%) were the main reasons for admission in the elderly group. Similarly, each of these accounted for 29.8% of the diagnosis in the order group. 80.3% of the elderly patients were hypertensive, while 66.9% of the patients were hypertensive in the younger group. The mortality rated was 28.8 and 30.9% in the elderly and younger patients respectively. Diabetic foot disease (36.8%) accounted for the major cause of death in the elderly group, while hyperglycemia emergencies (27.3%) accounted for the major cause in the young patients. The average time spent on admission was 25 days (S.D. 22) in the elderly and 23 days (S.D. 29) in the younger patients.

Conclusion: Treating geriatrics with diabetes requires the care giver to take a multidisciplinary role. The goals should always be the reduction of diabetes-related complications and improving the quality of life in this vulnerable group.