Care of the elderly person with diabetes: a questionnaire study comparing geriatricians with diabetic specialists

The management of elderly diabetic patients by 100 geriatricians and 100 diabetologists was assessed by a postal questionnaire. Replies were initially received from 54 geriatricians and 81 diabetologists (p less than 0.001); geriatricians were re-contacted increasing replies to 71. The geriatricians were less likely to check the visual acuities (p less than 0.001), less likely to dilate the pupils for fundoscopy (p less than 0.025), less likely to refer a patient with maculopathy to an ophthalmologist (p less than 0.001), more likely to discharge a stable diabetic to general-practitioner care (p less than 0.05), less likely to use insulin (p less than 0.01) or antidepressants (p less than 0.01) in treating painful peripheral neuropathy, and more likely to use glibenclamide instead of a shorter-acting sulphonylurea (p less than 0.001).