Trends in Prescribing Preferences for Antidiabetic Medications Among Patients With Type 2 Diabetes in the U.K. With and Without Chronic Kidney Disease, 2006–2020
Publication Date: 08/19/2022
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate trends in antidiabetic medication initiation patterns among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with and without chronic kidney disease (CKD).
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A retrospective cohort study using the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink (2006–2020) was conducted to evaluate the overall, first-, and second line (after metformin) medication initiation patterns among patients with CKD (n = 38,622) and those without CKD (n = 230,963) who had T2DM.
RESULTS: Relative to other glucose-lowering therapies, metformin initiations declined overall but remained the first-line treatment of choice for both patients with and those without CKD. Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2i) use increased modestly among patients with CKD, but this increase was more pronounced among patients without CKD; by 2020, patients without CKD, compared with patients with CKD, were three (28.5% vs. 9.4%) and six (46.3% vs. 7.9%) times more likely to initiate SGLT2i overall and as second-line therapy, respectively. Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) use was minimal regardless of CKD status (<5%), whereas both dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor (DPP4i) and sulfonylurea use remained high among patients with CKD. For instance, by 2020, and among patients with CKD, DPP4i and sulfonylureas constituted 28.3% and 20.6% of all initiations, and 57.4% and 30.3% of second-line initiations, respectively.