Author Information
Christine Yip, AusMed Global Limited, Hong KongAddy Chau, AusMed Global Limited, Hong Kong
Abstract
Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a preventable yet life-threatening emergency of diabetes that can lead to multi-organ damage, and avoidable healthcare use when detection is delayed. In community elderly care settings, DKA awareness and ketone monitoring may be limited, while symptoms can remain non-specific or easily overlooked. This proceedings paper reports a pilot survey conducted in Hong Kong within an elderly diabetes community programme led by the School of Nursing and Health Sciences of Hong Kong Metropolitan University. The study recruited 53 older adults with diabetes; 52 completed the questionnaire, yielding a response rate of 98.1%. The questionnaire examined knowledge of DKA, DKA-related symptoms experienced in the prior month, responses to symptoms, and preferred tools for daily diabetes management. The survey showed that 67.3% of respondents had no prior knowledge of DKA. At the same time, 55.8% reported at least one DKA-related symptom, most commonly fatigue or weakness, extreme thirst, diarrhoea, loss of appetite, and nausea. Among those with symptoms, 65.5% neither sought professional support nor communicated with family members. Preference data suggested stronger acceptance of painless breath ketone testing among the younger elderly subgroup, with 70% of participants aged under 65 favouring breath testing. Taken together, the findings indicate a clinically relevant behavioural gap in elderly diabetes care: warning symptoms may be present, but awareness, help-seeking, and timely ketone checking remain insufficient. The paper suggests that education, routine symptom checks, clear guidance on prompt communication when symptoms arise, and non-invasive ketone monitoring deserve stronger integration into community-based elderly diabetes care.
Paper Information
Conference: AGen2026Stream: Aging and Gerontology
This paper is part of the AGen2026 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Yip C., & Chau A. (2026) Suboptimal DKA Awareness and Behavioural Gaps Supporting Non-invasive Ketone Monitoring in Elderly CareSuboptimal DKA Awareness and Behavioural Gaps Supporting Non-Invasive Ketone Monitoring in Elderly Care ISSN: 2432-4183 The Asian Conference on Aging & Gerontology 2026: Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 209-215) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2432-4183.2026.17
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2432-4183.2026.17
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