Comorbidities associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus and the drug prescribing trends

Abstract

Background: A widespread health issue in the world, diabetes mellitus is accompanied by a number of co-morbidities. Many antidiabetic drugs are available with different mechanisms of action and safety profiles. This study's goal was to assess the co-morbidities that type 2 diabetes patients experience & to evaluate current prescribing trends of antidiabetic drugs.
Materials and Methods: It was a cross-sectional study that was conducted in a tertiary care medical facility's outpatient department of medicine. It was six months conducted from July 2022 to December 2022. The approval of study, was taken from institutional ethics committee. The details of patients attending the outpatient department of medicine having diabetes mellitus with associated comorbidities are recorded in a case record form.
Results: Out of the 80 patients that were evaluated,48 (60%) were males and 32 (40%) were females. The commonly associated comorbidities found are hypertension in 82.5%, suffered from hyperlipidemia in 58.7%, and cardiovascular conditions in 46.2% later followed by others. Metformin in 81% followed by glimepiride + Metformin at 43%, Vildagliptin 26%, and Dapaglifozin 16%, followed by others were the commonly prescribed antidiabetic agents.
Conclusions: Hypertension, hyperlipidaemia & cardiovascular conditions were the commonly associated comorbidities with type 2 DM. Metformin followed by glimepiride+ metformin, Vildagliptin & Dapaglifozin were commonly prescribed. sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors and DPP)-4 inhibitors are potential new therapies with good safety profiles.