About 1.5% of incident diabetes cases in adults are likely to be cases of postpancreatitis diabetes mellitus (PPDM) but are typically misdiagnosed as type 2 diabetes, researchers say.

The misdiagnosis matters because the limited evidence on therapy for PPDM suggests that incretin-based therapies and sulfonylureas are not advisable and metformin is the appropriate therapy, according to endocrinologists from Aalborg University, Denmark.

Patients with PPDM are also more likely to need early insulin therapy than those with type 2 disease, their study shows.

The researchers examined data for more than 398,000 adults with new-onset diabetes diagnosed between 2000 and 2018. People with pancreatic cancer were excluded from the analysis.