Diabetes care in the frail elderly

✍ Scribed by Tong, P ;Baillie, SP ;Roberts, SH

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1994
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 227 KB
• Volume: 11
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1357-8170
• DOI: 10.1002/pdi.1960110409

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

The prevalence of diabetes increases with age and with increasing age and fralty many elderly people move into residential care. An audit of diabetes care was carried out in 25 trail diabetic patients in residential care comparing them with 25 diabetic patients living in their own homes. The two groups were matched for age, sex and treatment type. Those in residential care received fewer services than those in their own homes, in terms of: annual review (44% vs 84%, p= 0.008); access to a chiropodist (60% vs 96%, p=0.006); an optician (36% vs 70%, p=0.01); a dietitian (48% vs 60%, NS). No significant differences in complication rates were found though more than half in both groups had cataracts. Mean HbA~1c~ and BMI were not significantly different between the two groups. These findings suggest that the provision of diabetes care to frail elderly diabetic patients in residential care is relatively poor, and reappraisal of the provision of health care in this group is needed.