RESUMEN
AIM: To investigate the achievement of individualized target HbA1c based on the Japanese guideline after geriatric assessment with the Dementia Assessment Sheet for Community-based Integrated Care System 8-items (DASC-8) and to evaluate patient characteristics acting as barriers to achieving the target HbA1c in elderly outpatients with diabetes. METHODS: This cross-sectional study enrolled 303 Japanese outpatients aged ≥65 years with diabetes. Their health status was measured using the DASC-8. The target HbA1c was optimized for each patient by the guideline based on the DASC-8 score and use of drugs potentially associated with severe hypoglycemia. Patient characteristics related to the agreement between measured HbA1c and target HbA1c were extracted by multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The mean age was 73.0 years and the mean body mass index (BMI) was 24.2 kg/m2 . The agreement between measured HbA1c and target HbA1c was 43.9% (95% confidence interval: 38.4%-50.0%). In multivariate logistic regression analysis, the agreement in patients with drugs potentially associated with severe hypoglycemia was significantly lower than in those without these drugs (37.8% vs. 60.5%, P = 0.0004). In patients with these drugs, higher BMI (P = 0.0271) and higher fasting plasma glucose (P = 0.0034) were independent related factors for measured HbA1c being higher than target HbA1c. Vulnerable elderly patients (P = 0.0116) and not taking sodium glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitor (P = 0.0186) were independent related factors for inappropriately lower HbA1c. CONCLUSIONS: The agreement between measured HbA1c and target HbA1c was low in elderly patients with diabetes. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2022; 22: 560-567.