Older patients with diabetes are often overtreated, say researchers

Older patients with diabetes whose treatment had resulted in very low blood pressure or haemoglobin A_1c levels rarely had their medicines reduced or withdrawn, a US study published in JAMA Internal Medicine has found.1 The authors said that this represents a lost opportunity to reduce overtreatment among older people that can put them at risk of serious adverse events.

The retrospective cohort study included 211 667 diabetes patients with a mean age of 78 who were receiving treatment for blood pressure and blood glucose level control. More than half of the cohort received treatment that …