Scientific Reports (Sep 2019)

Polypharmacy and oral antidiabetic treatment for type 2 diabetes characterised by drug class and patient characteristics: A Japanese database analysis

  • Takeshi Horii,
  • Makiko Iwasawa,
  • Yusuke Kabeya,
  • Koichiro Atuda

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-49424-2
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 1
pp. 1 – 6

Abstract

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Abstract Polypharmacy (PP) occurs in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) owing to multimorbidity. We evaluated concomitant PP and medication adherence in T2DM 3 years after initiation of administration of a hypoglycaemic agent using a nationwide claim-based database in Japan. Factors associated with medication PP and imperfect adherence were identified using multivariable logistic regression. PP was defined as using ≥6 medications. Patients with proportion of days covered (PDC) of <80% were defined as having poor medication adherence. A total of 884 patients were analysed. Multivariate analysis revealed that age, total number of consultations and body mass index (BMI) are factors that influence PP. Factors associated with PDC < 80% were 2–3, 4–5 and ≥ 6 medications compared with 1 medication, male sex, <17 consultations and age 50–59 and ≥ 60 years compared with <40 years. In conclusion, older age, high total number of consultations and BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 are risk factors for PP. PP influenced good medication adherence at the end of the observation period.