Relation between comprehensive-geriatric-assessment and the ability of self-administration in elderly diabetic patients

Intellectual ability of self-administration plays a crucial role in a diabetes regimen. However, in many cases, self-administration is considered difficult, because of the impairment of activities of the individual's daily living (ADL), instrumental ADL and cognitive function. To assess coin prehensive-geriatric-assessment (CGA) in elderly diabetic sufferers, 62 elderly inpatients and outpatients aged over 70 years were investigated. CGA includes Barthel index (BI), Mini-mental-state-examination (MMSE) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology index of competence (TMIGIC). The relation of ability to self-administer and CGA was examined. In oral therapy, there was significant difference between self-administration and non-self-administration in MMSE (p=0.0065), BI (p=0.0219) and TMIGIC (P=0.0053). Among these indexes, TMIGIC was the most sensitive index in oral therapy. In insulin therapy, there was also significant difference between self-administration and non-self-administration: MMSE (p=0.00042), BI (p=0.000019) and TMIGIC (p=0.0019). Among these indexes, BI was the most sensitive index in insulin therapy. It was suggested that CGA was useful to assess the ability of self-administration in elderly diabetic patients.