Drug utilisation pattern over three years in the real‐world treatment of type II diabetes. Adherence, persistence and comorbidity

INTRODUCTION Non-adherence to therapy is very common in patients with type II diabetes, leading to an increase in morbidity and mortality. The development of new oral therapies following metformin has increased the possibilities of treatment but little has been done in terms of improving medication adherence. The goal of the following study is to evaluate adherence and persistence over a period of three years in real-world diabetic patients and describe the comorbidities found in the group of patients studied. MATERIAL AND METHODOLOGY A non-interventional pharmacological observational study was conducted by examining all therapies from 2011 to 2019 at a local health centre in Pescara (ASL). The medication adherence and persistence over a three-year period were calculated using the pharmacy-refill method. The identification of the comorbidities was carried out in accordance with the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) Classification system at the fourth level. RESULTS 19600 patients undergoing treatment for type II diabetes from January 2011 to December 2019 were analysed. The absolute adherence value at three years was 0.68 ± 0.23. The three-year persistence curves showed a statistically significant difference (p < 0.0001). The ATCs with highest figures in the entire study group were: A02BC, B01AC and C10AA with 14220, 13934 and 10858 patients, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Adherence to therapy was suboptimal, while persistence curves showed a statistically significant difference, with patients treated with Metformin showing better results. Comorbidities analysed showed a greater relevance of heart disease.