Takeaway
- Across all oral anti-hyperglycaemic agent (OHA) lines of therapy (mono, dual or triple therapy), increasing adherence to medication can bring about meaningful improvements in HbA1c control as the requirement to escalate therapy increases.
- Regimens typically associated with weight loss and lower incidence of hypoglycaemia were generally associated with better medication adherence and improved glycaemic control.
Why this matters
- Study helps identify important determinants of optimal medication adherence and glycaemic management for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) requiring therapy escalation across the OHA treatment paradigm.
Study design
- Retrospective study investigated the association between medication adherence and clinical outcomes in 33,849 patients with T2DM (n=23,925 OHA monotherapy; n=8406 OHA dual therapy; n=1518 OHA triple therapy).
- Funding: Takeda Development Centre Europe Ltd.
Key results
- Over the course of 1 year, patients adherent to therapy had significant reduction in HbA1c vs those considered non-adherent (−0.90 to −1.14% [−9.8 to −12.5 mmol/mol] vs −0.49 to −0.69% [−5.4 to −7.5 mmol/mol]).
- On average, hypoglycaemia was more frequent among adherent patients vs non-adherent patients with rate ratios of 1.24 (P=.303), 1.10 (P=.757) and 2.06 (P=.096) associated with OHA mono, dual and triple therapy cohorts, respectively.
- Weight change was also greater in adherent patients vs non-adherent patients.
- 10% improvement in medication possession ratio showed −0.09% (−1.0 mmol/mol), −0.09% (−1.0 mmol/mol) and −0.21% (−2.3 mmol/mol) change in HbA1c for OHA mono, dual therapy, and triple therapy, respectively).
Limitations
- Risk for confounding.
References
References
