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

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 welltolerated therapies. This retrospective, real-world survey recorded glycated haemoglobin A1c (HbA1C) 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 HbA1C 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, welltolerated add-on therapy with low hypoglycaemic risk. Br J Diabetes Vasc Dis 2011;11:239-242