Baseline characteristics of 131 949 patients with type 2 diabetes, according to initial pharmacotherapy with glucose-lowering drugs (2005–2012)
| Characteristics | Metformin | Sulfonylurea | Insulin | Fixed drug combinations | DPP-4 inhibitors | GLP-1 analogues | Meglitinides | Other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n (%)* | 106 424 (81) | 16 703 (13) | 7293 (6) | 553 (<1) | 358 (<1) | 295 (<1) | 231 (<1) | 92 (<1) | 131 949 (100) |
| Sex | |||||||||
| Men | 59 213 (56) | 9879 (59) | 4421 (61) | 355 (64) | 212 (59) | 126 (43) | 128 (55) | 57 (62) | 74 391 (56) |
| Women | 47 211 (44) | 6824 (41) | 3872 (39) | 198 (36) | 146 (41) | 169 (57) | 103 (45) | 35 (38) | 57 558 (44) |
| Age in years | |||||||||
| Median age (IQR) | 62 (52, 70) | 67 (57, 76) | 56 (43, 68) | 62 (52, 70) | 67 (56, 76) | 52 (44, 61) | 62 (53, 72) | 58 (46, 69) | 62 (52, 70) |
| Age-groups (years) | |||||||||
| 30 to <50 | 22 611 (21) | 2026 (12) | 2728 (37) | 124 (22) | 41 (11) | 128 (43) | 49 (21) | 28 (830) | 27 735 (21) |
| 50 to <70 | 58 184 (55) | 7835 (47) | 3050 (42) | 291 (53) | 182 (51) | 143 (48) | 116 (50) | 43 (47) | 69 844 (53) |
| >70 | 25 629 (24) | 6842 (41) | 1515 (21) | 138 (25) | 135 (38) | 24 (8) | 66 (29) | 21 (23) | 34 370 (26) |
| Year of study inclusion | |||||||||
| 2005–2008 | 37 692 (35) | 13 433 (80) | 3702 (51) | 181 (33) | 123 (34) | 5 (2) | 174 (75) | 53 (58) | 55 363 (42) |
| 2009–2012 | 68 732 (65) | 3270 (20) | 3591 (49) | 372 (67) | 235 (66) | 290 (98) | 57 (25) | 39 (42) | 76 586 (58) |
| Marital status | |||||||||
| Married | 64 123 (61) | 9630 (59) | 4062 (58) | 322 (59) | 214 (60) | 196 (66) | 157 (69) | 59 (64) | 78 763 (60) |
| Never married | 13 404 (13) | 1271 (8) | 1211 (17) | 85 (16) | 34 (10) | 55 (19) | 13 (6) | 10 (11) | 16 083 (12) |
| Divorced | 15 457 (15) | 2150 (13) | 1080 (15) | 85 (16) | 46 (13) | 32 (11) | 22 (10) | 17 (18) | 18 889 (14) |
| Widowed | 12 561 (12) | 3269 (20) | 701 (10) | 55 (10) | 60 (17) | 12 (4) | 36 (16) | 6 (7) | 16 700 (13) |
| CCI score | |||||||||
| Low (score of 0) | 75 550 (71) | 10 224 (61) | 3953 (54) | 385 (70) | 202 (56) | 207 (70) | 154 (67) | 54 (59) | 90 729 (69) |
| Medium (scores of 1–2) | 25 957 (24) | 5035 (30) | 2076 (28) | 134 (24) | 110 (31) | 72 (24) | 59 (26) | 28 (30) | 33 471 (25) |
| High (score ≥3) | 4917 (5) | 1444 (9) | 1264 (17) | 34 (6) | 46 (13) | 16 (5) | 18 (8) | 10 (11) | 7749 (6) |
| Diabetes complications | |||||||||
| No complications | 77 981 (73) | 10 968 (66) | 5024 (69) | 417 (75) | 204 (57) | 237 (80) | 168 (73) | 71 (77) | 95 070 (72) |
| Microvascular | 6422 (6) | 1423 (9) | 729 (10) | 33 (6) | 31 (9) | 16 (5) | 22 (10) | 6 (7) | 8682 (7) |
| Macrovascular | 22 021 (21) | 4312 (26) | 1540 (21) | 103 (19) | 123 (34) | 42 (14) | 41 (18) | 15 (16) | 28 197 (21) |
| Alcoholism-related conditions | 2651 (2) | 595 (4) | 742 (10) | 12 (2) | 17 (5) | 4 (2) | 10 (4) | 3 (3) | 4034 (3) |
| Hospital-diagnosed obesity | 9566 (9) | 602 (4) | 528 (7) | 46 (8) | 28 (8) | 79 (27) | 7 (3) | 17 (18) | 10 873 (8) |
| Hospital outpatient follow-up in first year after study inclusion | 16 463 (15) | 3502 (21) | 1695 (23) | 86 (16) | 62 (17) | 18 (6) | 33 (14) | 11 (12) | 21 870 (17) |
| Therapy change during follow-up | 30 845 (29) | 9977 (60) | 2353 (32) | 259 (47) | 173 (48) | 48 (16) | 135 (58) | 41 (45) | 43 831 (33) |
| Therapy change within 1-year | 16 530 (16) | 3618 (22) | 1752 (24) | 140 (25) | 122 (34) | 31 (11) | 62 (27) | 23 (25) | 22 278 (17) |
| Therapy change within 2 years | 21 877 (21) | 5581 (33) | 1970 (27) | 184 (33) | 147 (41) | 45 (15) | 86 (37) | 33 (36) | 29 923 (23) |
| Number of patients with HbA1c measurement | 27 200 (56) | 4576 (59) | 1649 (61) | 164 (64) | 115 (59) | 35 (43) | 34 (55) | 22 (62) | 33 795 (56) |
| Median % HbA1c (IQR) | 7.1 (6.5, 8.3) | 7.6 (6.9, 9.2) | 10.1 (7.5, 12.1) | 8.3 (7.0, 10.6) | 7.0 (6.5, 7.7) | 6.4 (6.0, 7.3) | 7.1 (6.1, 7.9) | 7.0 (5.9, 7.8) | 7.2 (6.6, 8.7) |
| Other medication use | |||||||||
| Statins | 50 817 (48) | 6230 (37) | 1522 (21) | 230 (42) | 167 (47) | 80 (27) | 63 (27) | 24 (26) | 59 163 (45) |
| Immunosuppressants | 669 (1) | 134 (1) | 85 (1) | 2 (<1) | 3 (1) | 4 (1) | 2 (1) | 5 (5) | 904 (1) |
| Corticosteroids | 3825 (4) | 1163 (7) | 1044 (14) | 20 (4) | 21 (6) | 11 (4) | 15 (6) | 6 (7) | 6105 (5) |
*Parentheses contain percentages unless otherwise specified.
CCI, Charlson comorbidity index; DPP-4, dipeptidyl peptidase-4; GLP-1, glucagon-like peptide-1; HbA1c, glycated haemoglobin.