By Colin Kenny, GP, Dromore
The prescription histories of 1026 individuals with screen-detected diabetes enrolled in the ADDITION-UK trial of the promotion of intensive treatment were coded into general medication types at diagnosis and 1 and 5 years post-diagnosis. The association was explored between change in the count of several medication types and age, baseline 10-year UKPDS (UK Prospective Diabetes Study) cardiovascular risk, sex, intensive treatment group and number of medications.
Just under half of individuals (42%) were taking drugs unrelated to cardioprotection before diagnosis, and this was found to have increased post-diagnosis alongside a rise in the number of prescribed diabetes-related and cardioprotective drugs. Higher cardiovascular risk at baseline was associated with a greater increase in cardioprotective and diabetes-related medication, but not an increase in other medications. This suggests that there is a significant degree of multimorbidity and polypharmacy present in individuals with screen-detected diabetes. Following diagnosis, individuals were more likely to be prescribed diabetes-related medication if they were younger, female or had a higher cardiovascular risk.
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