People with type 2 diabetes aged over 65 have some beliefs about medicines for their condition that are the opposite of guideline recommendations, a US study suggests.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University surveyed a representative sample of 818 patients with type 2 diabetes (54% male, 68% Caucasian).

Patients were asked about the importance of seven factors in decisions on adding a drug, removing a drug or deciding to treat the condition “aggressively”.

The seven factors were: diabetes duration; established diabetes complications; other health conditions; life expectancy; risk of treatment adverse effects; treatment cost; and treatment effort.