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Updated: Aug 10, 2025

Improving IV Insulin Administration in a Community Hospital
Published on: June 11, 2012
Antidiabetic Drug Prescription Pattern in Hospitalized Older Patients with Diabetes
Ilaria Ardoino1, Sara Mandelli1, Marta Baviera2
1Laboratory of Pharmacoepidemiology and Human Nutrition, Department of Health Policy, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS, 20156 Milan, Italy.
Objective:
To describe the prescription pattern of antidiabetic and cardiovascular drugs in a cohort of hospitalized older patients with diabetes.
Methods:
Patients with diabetes aged 65 years or older hospitalized in internal medicine and/or geriatric wards throughout Italy and enrolled in the REPOSI (REgistro POliterapuie SIMI-Società Italiana di Medicina Interna) registry from 2010 to 2019 and discharged alive were included.
Results:
Among 1703 patients with diabetes, 1433 (84.2%) were on treatment with at least one antidiabetic drug at hospital admission, mainly prescribed as monotherapy with insulin (28.3%) or metformin (19.2%). The proportion of treated patients decreased at discharge (N = 1309, 76.9%), with a significant reduction over time. Among those prescribed, the proportion of those with insulin alone increased over time (p = 0.0066), while the proportion of those prescribed sulfonylureas decreased (p < 0.0001). Among patients receiving antidiabetic therapy at discharge, 1063 (81.2%) were also prescribed cardiovascular drugs, mainly with an antihypertensive drug alone or in combination (N = 777, 73.1%).
Conclusion:
The management of older patients with diabetes in a hospital setting is often sub-optimal, as shown by the increasing trend in insulin at discharge, even if an overall improvement has been highlighted by the prevalent decrease in sulfonylureas prescription.
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