Factors Contributing to the Diabetes Burden in the Elderly: A Clinical Perspective.
Derya Çınar, Gönül Düzgün, Aynur Türeyen and 1 others
PMID 40405329WHAT IT FOUND
Older inpatients with diabetes reported burden across symptoms, social life, diet, worry, treatment dissatisfaction and medication.
Those using both oral diabetes drugs and insulin, or having another chronic disease, reported higher burden.
Key findings
01The mean total Burden of Diabetes in the Elderly Scale score was 50.98 ± 15.59, on a scale with a total score range of 18 to 88.
02Participants using combined oral antidiabetic drug and insulin treatment had higher total burden, social burden, concern about diabetes, treatment dissatisfaction and medication burden than participants using oral antidiabetic drugs or insulin alone.
03Participants with another chronic disease had higher symptom burden, social burden and total burden than participants without another chronic disease.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study was single-centre, so the results may not apply to other hospitals or regions. It included only inpatients, so it may not reflect older people with diabetes who are followed as outpatients. The data were collected at one time, so it cannot show that combined treatment or comorbidity caused higher burden. Participants were not asked about the presence or severity of diabetes-related complications, such as neuropathy, retinopathy, nephropathy or diabetic foot. The study excluded people with severe vision or hearing impairment, inability to communicate verbally, psychiatric conditions affecting cognition, or bedridden status, so it may not reflect those groups. The Burden of Diabetes in the Elderly Scale is self-reported, and the study did not test whether nurses using it improve diabetes care.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that combined oral antidiabetic drug and insulin treatment causes higher diabetes burden. The study measured burden at one time and compared groups, so it cannot separate the contribution of each treatment component or show causality.