Observational study of once-daily insulin detemir in people with type 2 diabetes aged 75 years or older: a sub-analysis of data from the Study of Once daily LeVEmir (SOLVE).
OBJECTIVE
Older patients are particularly vulnerable to hypoglycaemia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the response to initiation of once-daily insulin detemir in patients aged ≥75 years with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) treated with one or more oral antidiabetic drugs (OADs).


METHODS
A sub-analysis was conducted using data from SOLVE (Study of Once daily LeVEmir), a 24-week observational study involving 3,219 investigators and 2,817 project sites from ten countries. Routine clinical practice was followed; there were no study-prescribed procedures. The total cohort comprised 17,374 participants, of whom 2,398 (14 %) were aged ≥75 years. The physicians collected information from patient recall, the patients' medical records and their self-monitored blood glucose diaries (if kept).


RESULTS
Pre-insulin glycated haemoglobin (HbA(1c)) was similar between participants aged ≥75 years and those aged <75 years (HbA(1c) 8.8 ± 1.5 % vs. 8.9 ± 1.6 % [mean ± SD], respectively). After 24 weeks of treatment, similar reductions in HbA(1c) were observed in the two subgroups: 7.6 ± 1.1 % and 7.5 ± 1.2 % in participants aged ≥75 years and those aged <75 years, respectively. The incidence of severe hypoglycaemia (episodes per patient-year) decreased during the study in both age groups (from 0.057 to 0.007 in patients aged ≥75 years; from 0.042 to 0.005 in patients aged <75 years), while minor hypoglycaemia increased from 1.1 to 2.0 and from 1.7 to 1.8 episodes per patient-year in the older and younger age groups, respectively. Average weight reduction was similar in both groups: -0.5 kg (≥75 years) and -0.6 kg (<75 years).


CONCLUSIONS
In both the older and younger age groups, the addition of once-daily insulin detemir to existing OAD regimens was effective and safe. In older patients, an improvement in HbA(1c) of 1.2 % was not associated with an increased risk of severe hypoglycaemia or weight gain.
Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Rambam Medical Center and Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion, 12 Halia St, Samy Ofer Tower, Fl #8, Haifa, 31096, Israel. eddy@rambam.health.gov.il
Eddy
E
Karnieli
Florian M M
FM
Baeres
Grzegorz
G
Dzida
Qiuhe
Q
Ji
Robert
R
Ligthelm
Stuart
S
Ross
Anne Louise
AL
Svendsen
Jean-François
JF
Yale
D000368:Aged; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007003:Hypoglycemia / Q000139:chemically induced; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D000069057:Insulin Detemir; D049528:Insulin, Long-Acting / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
D001786:Blood Glucose; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents; D000069057:Insulin Detemir; D049528:Insulin, Long-Acting