VOLUME 10 NUMBER 3 • SEPTEMBER 2013
87
SA JOURNAL OF DIABETES & VASCULAR DISEASE
RESEARCH ARTICLE
as well as incomplete data on the durations of treatments. In
addition, the consistency of hypoglycaemia reporting could not
be verified due to the retrospective nature of our study. We do
however believe that there were differences in reporting which we
did not investigate further; for example, secondary care databases
have specific prompting questions on hypoglycaemia as opposed
to primary care reporting which does not include this facility. The
other limitation is that the use of metformin, sulphonylureas and
insulin were significantly different between the groups, which
may influence our observations and broad conclusions. However,
our findings are supported that these data depict real-life clinical
prescribing patterns in both primary and secondary care. We
specifically focused and reported on other aspects pertinent to care
of older patients such as accommodation and support structures,
and our data on HbA
1C
levels and other patient characteristics, risk
factors and complications were well-documented. Our two cohorts
had similar durations of diabetes, which reinforces our observations.
In the light of the recent ADA–EASD clinical guidelines for type 2
diabetes mellitus,
7
and the European Diabetes Working Party for
Older People position statement,
2
where individualised treatment
plans are emphasised, clinicians should consider the risks and
benefits to the individual patient, ensuring optimal risk reduction
whilst maximising patient safety.
Declaration of conflicting interest
The author declares that there is no conflict of interest.
Funding
This study was conducted with the support from an unrestricted
educational grant from Merck Sharp and Dohme. A.V., R.G. and
A.S. have received consultancy fees, speakers fees, travel support
and/or are involved in clinical research trials sponsored by Astra
Zeneca, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi Aventis, Eli Lilly, Takeda, Merck Sharp
Dohme and Pfizer. C.L. is an employee of Merck Sharp and Dohme.
C.M. and S.V.. have no conflicts of interest.
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