Comparative study of diabetic ketoacidosis in the elderly and non-elderly patients: A nine-year experience from an academic hospital in North India.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Despite an increasing prevalence of the aged population with diabetes in low-middle-income countries, there is limited literature on geriatric hyperglycemic emergencies. The present study aimed to compare the spectrum and outcomes of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) between elderly and non-elderly adult patients in India.

METHODS

Seventy-seven elderly patients (≥60 years) were compared to 477 non-elderly patients (13-59 years) with DKA admitted to the medical emergency, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India, between January 2014 and December 2022. Clinical features, laboratory parameters, precipitating factors, and in-hospital outcomes were reviewed.

RESULTS

Elderly patients less commonly had vomiting and abdominal pain than non-elderly patients (31.3 % vs. 66.2 %, 27.3 % vs. 60.1 %, respectively) and typically presented with dyspnea (48.5 %), altered mental status (47.8 %), and fever (46.3 %). Ketonemia and metabolic acidosis were significantly more marked in non-elderly patients, whereas elderly patients frequently had anemia, hypoalbuminemia, and renal dysfunction. The most common precipitations of geriatric DKA were infections (70.1 %), followed by treatment non-adherence (66.2 %) and non-infectious disorders (35.1 %). Infections and non-infectious disorders were significantly more frequent in elderly patients than in non-elderly patients. Respiratory and urinary tract infections were prevalent in both age groups. In-hospital survival was 74.9 % (n = 415) and remained lower in older patients (48.1 % vs. 79.2 %, P-value <0.001). The independent prognostic factors were age (OR 1.030, 95 % CI 1.006-1.054, P = 0.014), Glasgow coma scale (OR 0.789, 95 % CI 0.717-0.869, P <0.001), and infection trigger (OR 6.635, 95 % CI 2.852-15.441, P <0.001).

CONCLUSION

Older patients with DKA present atypically, frequently have precipitation with infections and noninfectious disorders, and have poor outcomes.