Initiation of insulin therapy in elderly patients taking oral antidiabetes drugs.

ABSTRACT:

Background

We sought to estimate the rate of initiation of insulin therapy among elderly patients using oral anti-diabetes drugs and to identify the factors associated with this initiation.

Methods

We conducted a population-based cohort study involving people aged 66 or more years who were newly dispensed an oral antidiabetes drug. Individuals who had received acarbose or a thiazolidinedione were excluded. The rate of insulin initiation was calculated by use of the Kaplan-Meier method. Factors associated with insulin initiation were identified by multivariable Cox regression analyses.

Results

In this cohort of 69,674 new users of oral antidiabetes drugs, insulin was initiated at rate of 9.7 cases per 1000 patient-years. Patients who had initially received an insulin s

SUBMITTER: Perez N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2696526 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature