A National Physician Survey of Deintensifying Diabetes Medications for Older Adults With Type 2 Diabetes

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

OBJECTIVE To determine physicians’ approach to deintensifying (reducing/stopping) or switch-ing hypoglycemia-causing medications for older adults with type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS In this national survey, U.S. physicians in general medicine, geriatrics, or endocrinology reported changes they would make to hypoglycemia-causing medications for older adults in three scenarios: good health, HbA1c of 6.3%; complex health, HbA1c of 7.3%; and poor health, HbA1c of 7.7%. RESULTS There were 445 eligible respondents (response rate 37.5%). In patient scenarios, 48%, 4%, and 20% of physicians deintensified hypoglycemia-causing medications for patients with good, complex, and poor health, respectively. Overall, 17% of physicians switched medications without significant differences by patient health. One-half of physicians selected HbA1c targets below guideline recommendations for older adults with complex or poor health. CONCLUSIONS Most U.S. physicians would not deintensify or switch hypoglycemia-causing medications within guideline-recommended HbA1c targets. Physician preference for lower HbA1c targets than guidelines needs to be addressed to optimize deintensi-fication decisions.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1164-1168
Number of pages5
JournalDiabetes care
Volume46
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2023

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Internal Medicine
  • Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
  • Advanced and Specialized Nursing

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