ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION Diabetes mellitus is a growing worldwide concern. In the USA, studies suggest that 12.9% of people aged 20 years and older have diabetes. More concerning is that nearly 40% of these people are unaware of their diagnosis (1). Prevalence is particularly high in older patients. Diabetes prevalence is 30% in people aged 60-74 years and 29.1% in people aged 75 years and older (2). These numbers will continue to grow worldwide. In 2000, it was estimated that the worldwide prevalence of diabetes for all age groups was 2.8%. This number is expected to rise to 4.4% by 2030. Worldwide, 366 million people could be affected at that time with the largest demographic change being the increase in proportion of people >65 years of age with diabetes (3).
