Age more than 75 years

Quality prescribing strategy for type 2 diabetes mellitus: a guide for improvement
Scottish Government Effective Prescribing & Therapeutics Division
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See section on Frailty and older adults for further information.

  • This current indicator continues to show that there are high levels of SU prescribing in those aged 75 years or over.
  • A low percentage in this indicator would indicate alignment with current best practice prescribing guidance.
  • Although this has reduced, most recent data shows that across Scotland there is a significant proportion of those aged 75 years or over still being prescribed an SU, increasing their risks of hypoglycaemia and subsequent falls and hospitalization.

Prescribing of sulfonylureas in those aged 75 years or over

Action required by boards/clusters/practices

  • GP clusters and practices can review their data in comparison to other board regions to determine areas of unwarranted variation.
  • GP clusters and practices can review their data with others in the board down to individual practice level, considering practices with higher percentage of SU prescribing and why these may be outliers in prescribing.
  • Other therapies are available with long term outcome data and lower risk of hypoglycaemia that may be more appropriate.