Prescription patterns for diabetes mellitus and therapeutic implications: a population-based analysis

Retrospective review of medicine utilization for noncommunicable diseases in three public sector pharmacies in Jamaica

Objective

The rational use of medicines offers a cost-saving strategy to maximize therapeutic outcomes for developing and developed countries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the rational use of medicines for selected noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) at three pharmacies at public hospitals in Jamaica using the World Health Organization's (WHO's) prescribing indicators.

Methods

In this retrospective cross-sectional study, prescriptions for adult outpatients containing at least one medicine for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma that were filled between January and July 2019 were reviewed using WHO's prescribing indicators for the rational use of medicines. Data were analyzed and expressed as descriptive and inferential statistics. For all analyses conducted, significance was determined at P < 0.05.

Results

A total of 1 500 prescriptions covering 5 979 medicines were reviewed; prescriptions were mostly written for female patients aged 42-60 years. Polypharmacy was observed in 35.6% (534) of prescriptions, and there was an average of 4 medicines per prescription, with a maximum of 17. Most of the prescriptions at each site were filled, with the main reason for not dispensing a medicine being that it was out of stock. Generic prescribing was high for all sites, accounting for more than 95% (5 722) of prescribed medicines. There was full compliance with prescribing according to the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines at two of the sites, but it was just off the target at Site 1, by 1.4%.

Conclusions

The WHO guidelines for the rational use of medicines were followed with respect to the proportion of medicines prescribed from the WHO Model List and the proportion of antibiotics prescribed. The number of medicines per prescription and the proportion of medicines prescribed by generic name did not meet the WHO criteria. However, prescribing was aligned with treatment guidelines for the selected NCDs.

Profile of patients with hypertension and/or diabetes mellitus from Primary Healthcare units

Objective

To analyze the characteristics of patients with hypertension and/or diabetes mellitus from Primary Healthcare units.

Methods

This is a retrospective study, with data collected from December 2014 of patients with hypertension and/or diabetes from 13 Primary Healthcare units located in the Southern region of Sao Paulo (SP, Brazil). Patients were compared by sex, diagnosis and cardiovascular risk using student t test, one way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis and χ² tests.

Results

We evaluated 28,496 patients aged 20 years to 79 years (mean of 57.8 years). Most of patients were women (63.2%) and aged 50 years old or older (74.2%). The participation in the Programa Remédio em Casa (Medicine at Home Program) was higher among women (12.7%), and the proportions of hypertension, diabetes and both diseases were 68.0%, 7.9% and 24.1%, respectively. Patients with hypertension and diabetes had higher participation in Medicine at Home Program (13.3%), and those with diabetes only had higher participation in Programa de Automonitoramento Glicêmico (Self-Monitoring Glucose Program) (20.0%). The proportions of low, moderate, and high cardiovascular risk were 33.0%, 15.5%, and 51.5%, respectively.

Conclusion

The sample of this study consisted of patients who were mostly women, aged 50 years or older and diagnosed with hypertension. Almost a quarter of patients also had diabetes and approximately one third and half of them were classified as low and high cardiovascular risk.

Clinical inertia in insulin prescription for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus at a primary health care institution of Cartagena, Colombia

Introduction: Evidence has demonstrated clinical or prescriptive inertia along with an increased prescription of insulin, causing a delay in the change of prescription.Objective: To determine the prescription pattern and clinical inertia of insulin use in the treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) enrolled in a diabetes program at a primary health care institution of Cartagena, Colombia.Materials and methods: Pharmacoepidemiology study that addresses drug utilization based on data collected through a review of medical records of 331 patients with DM2, aged 18 and older, who had at least 6 months of control.Results: 64.4% of patients were treated with long-acting insulin analogues and 18.4% used insulin; 52.7% of the patients in which insuline use was required did not have a prescription of this drug.Conclusions: There is clinical inertia related to insulin prescription. Strategies should be implemented to overcome prescriptive inertia for people with DM2 in order to achieve therapeutic goals earlier and effectively prevent the development and progression of chronic complications.

Drug-class-specific changes in the volume and cost of antidiabetic medications in Poland between 2012 and 2015

Aim

to investigate the drug-class-specific changes in the volume and cost of antidiabetic medications in Poland in 2012–2015.

Methods

This retrospective analysis was conducted based on the National Health Fund database covering an entire Polish population. The volume of antidiabetic medications is reported according to ATC/DDD methodology, costs—in current international dollars, based on purchasing power parity.

Results

During a 4-year observational period the number of patients, consumption of antidiabetic drugs and costs increased by 17%, 21% and 20%, respectively. Biguanides are the basic diabetes medication with a 39% market share. The insulin market is still dominated by human insulins, new antidiabetics (incretins, thiazolidinediones) are practically absent. Insulins had the largest share in diabetes medications expenditures (67% in 2015). The increase in antidiabetic medications costs over the analysed period of time was mainly caused by the increased use of insulin analogues.

Conclusions

The observed tendencies correspond to the evidence-based HTA recommendations. The reimbursement status, the ratio of cost to clinical outcomes and data on the long-term safety have a deciding impact on how a drug is used.

Potentially inappropriate prescribing and associated factors in elderly patients at hospital discharge in Brazil: a cross-sectional study

Background The Screening Tool of Older Persons' Prescriptions/Screening Tool to Alert doctors to Right Treatment (STOPP/START) criteria is used to identify instances of potentially inappropriate prescribing in a patient's medication regimen. Objective To determine the prevalence and predictors of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) and potential prescribing omissions (PPOs) among elderly patients at hospital discharge. Setting A university hospital medical clinic in Brazil. Method Discharge prescriptions were examined using the STOPP/START criteria. Subjects were inpatients aged ≥60 years receiving at least one medication prior to hospitalization and with a history of cardiovascular disease. The prevalence of PIMs and PPOs was determined and a multivariable binary regression analysis was performed to identify independent predictors associated with PIMs or PPOs. Main outcome measure Prevalence of PIMs and PPOs. Results Of the 230 subjects, 13.9% were prescribed at least one PIM. The most frequently prescribed PIMs were glibenclamide or chlorpropamide prescribed for type 2 diabetes mellitus (31.0%), and aspirin at doses >150 mg/day (14.3%). Ninety patients had at least one PPO (39.1%). The most prevalent PPOs were statins (29.8%) and antiplatelet therapy (13.7%) for diabetes mellitus when coexisting major cardiovascular risk factors were present. No predictors for PIMs were found. In contrast, diabetes was a risk factor while dyslipidaemia was a protective factor for PPOs. Conclusion PIMs and PPOs commonly occur with elderly people at hospital discharge. Diabetes and dyslipidaemia were significantly associated with PPOs. Our findings show the need for interventions to reduce potentially inappropriate prescribing, such as a pharmacist medication review process at hospital discharge.

Analysis of access to hypertensive and diabetic drugs in the Family Health Strategy, State of Pernambuco, Brazil

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the access to drugs for hypertension and diabetes and the direct cost of buying them among users of the Family Health Strategy (FHS) in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil.

METHODS

Population-based, cross-sectional study of a systematic random sample of 785 patients with hypertension and 823 patients with diabetes mellitus who were registered in 208 randomly selected FHS teams in 35 municipalities of the state of Pernambuco. The selected municipalities were classified into three levels with probability proportional to municipality size (LS, large-sized; MS, medium-sized; SS, small-sized). To verify differences between the cities, we used the χ2 test.

RESULTS

Pharmacological treatment was used by 91.2% patients with hypertension whereas 85.6% patients with diabetes mellitus used oral antidiabetic drugs (OADs), and 15.4% used insulin. The FHS team itself provided antihypertensive medications to 69.0% patients with hypertension, OADs to 75.0% patients with diabetes mellitus, and insulin treatment to 65.4%. The 36.9% patients with hypertension and 29.8% with diabetes mellitus that had to buy all or part of their medications reported median monthly cost of R$ 18.30, R$ 14.00, and R$ 27.61 for antihypertensive drugs, OADs, and insulin, respectively.

CONCLUSION

It is necessary to increase efforts to ensure access to these drugs in the primary health care network.

Prescription medication burden in patients with newly diagnosed diabetes: a SUrveillance, PREvention, and ManagEment of Diabetes Mellitus (SUPREME-DM) study

OBJECTIVE

To understand the burden of medication use for patients with newly diagnosed diabetes both before and after diabetes diagnosis and to identify subpopulations of patients with newly diagnosed diabetes who face a relatively high drug burden.

DESIGN

Retrospective cohort study.

SETTING

11 integrated health systems in the United States.

PARTICIPANTS

196,654 insured adults 20 years of age or older newly diagnosed with type 1 or type 2 diabetes from January 2005 through December 2009.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Number of unique therapeutic classes of drugs dispensed in the 12 months before and 12 months after diagnosis of diabetes in five categories: overall, antihypertensive agents, antihyperlipidemic agents, mental health agents, and antihyperglycemic agents (in the postdiagnosis period only).

RESULTS

The mean number of drug classes used by newly diagnosed patients with diabetes is high before diagnosis (5.0) and increases significantly afterward (6.6). Of this increase, 81% is due to antihyperglycemic initiation and increased use of medications to control hypertension and lipid levels. Multivariate analyses showed that overall drug burden after diabetes diagnosis was higher in women, older, white, and obese patients, as well as among those with higher glycosylated hemoglobin concentrations and comorbidity levels (significant for all comparisons). The overall number of drug classes used by newly diagnosed patients with diabetes after diagnosis decreased slightly but significantly between 2005 and 2009.

CONCLUSION

Patients newly diagnosed with diabetes face a substantially increased burden of medications used to control diabetes and other comorbidities. This study shows an increased focus on cardiovascular disease risk factor control after diagnosis of diabetes. However, total drug burden may be slightly decreasing over time.

Effect of treatment with sitagliptin on somatosensory-evoked potentials and metabolic control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the effect of sitagliptin on somatosensory-evoked potentials (SEPs) and metabolic control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus without clinical diabetic neuropathy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Interventional, prospective, and open study. Patients with less than six months from the diagnosis were included. Examinations of SEPs and laboratory tests at fasting and after food stimulation were performed before and after three months of treatment with sitagliptin (100 mg/day).

RESULTS

There was a reduction in the mean levels of HbA1c (P < 0.0001), fasting glucose (P = 0.001), total cholesterol (P = 0.019), and ALT (P = 0.022). An increase in active GLP-1 was found at the end of the study (P = 0.0025). Several SEPs showed statistically significant differences when analyzed before and after treatment with sitagliptin.

CONCLUSION

The results give a glimpse of the possible use of sitagliptin in the treatment of some neurodegenerative conditions of the peripheral nervous system, in addition to its already established role in glycemic control.

Specific use of CSII during enteral nocturnal nutrition in a child with type 1 diabetes, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and Down syndrome

The management of insulin therapy in diabetic patients who have comorbidities that involve nutritional aspects, is a major challenge for diabetes care teams. In diabetic patients with compromised nutritional status, artificial nutrition, both enteral or parenteral, may help in the treatment of chronic and acute diseases, leading to better and faster recover of the health status but, if not adequately associated with insulin therapy, it may negatively affect blood glucose levels and lead to poorer metabolic control. In particular, evidence-based recommendations for the treatment of diabetic patients during enteral nutrition therapy are not currently available and, therefore, medical practices are often based on case reports, rather than outcomes of research. We report our experience with a diabetic patient receiving nocturnal enteral feeding due to comorbidities and malnutrition, who was followed up at our centre and precociously treated with continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion after the onset of type 1 diabetes. There is great need for adequately powered randomized controlled trials to provide scientific evidence for the insulin treatment of diabetic patients undergoing enteral feeding.