A Short Easy Test Can Detect Ability for Autonomous Insulin Injection by the Elderly With Diabetes Mellitus

Objective: Elderly patients with diabetes often have difficulty with self-administering insulin. It was the aim of the present study to find a short, easy performance test, such as the Timed Test of Money Counting (TTMC), that identifies elderly patients with diabetes, in grade to undertake proper insulin injection autonomously and correctly. Patients and Methods: A total of 73 insulin-dependent patients (age 77.3 +/- 7.1 years, HbA1c 8.2% +/- 2.0%) completed the TTMC as part of a comprehensive geriatric assessment before and 3 months after structured diabetes education. Results: The TTMC showed a sensitivity of 69.2% for autonomous injection of insulin 3 months after diabetes education, if patients performed the test within a time duration of less than 46 seconds. Specificity is 70% and positive predictive value 78.7% in this case. Study Implication: The TTMC seems to be a suitable predictor for ability to inject insulin autonomously after receiving diabetes education. The expenditure of time is only about 5 minutes and it helps to identify patients with diabetes who are able to inject insulin themselves after diabetes education. Copyright (C) 2012 - American Medical Directors Association, Inc.