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Abstract

In the UK, type 2 diabetes mellitus in patients aged ≥ 65 years is a significant healthcare burden, compounded by an increasing elderly population. Intensive therapies to control blood glucose can be hazardous for this patient group and information is limited about well-tolerated therapies. This retrospective, real-world survey recorded glycated haemoglobin A1c (HbA_1C) levels and incidences of hypoglycaemic events in 72 elderly and very elderly patients (65–74 years and ≥ 75 years, respectively) receiving the dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor vildagliptin as part of combination therapy. After vildagliptin initiation, mean HbA_1C levels decreased from 8.2% to 7.4% (p=0.0415), the mean change in the elderly and very elderly subgroups being similar (−0.8%, −0.9%, respectively); the mean incidence of hypoglycaemic events (1.4%) was unchanged. This observational survey provides real-life evidence that in patients aged ≥ 65 years with type 2 diabetes, vildagliptin is an effective, well-tolerated add-on therapy with low hypoglycaemic risk.

Keywords

aged data collection diabetes mellitus type 2 DPP-4 inhibitor vildagliptin

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A UK retrospective observational survey of vildagliptin as add-on antidiabetes therapy in elderly patients

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