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Changes in prescribing patterns and clinical outcomes in elderly diabetic patients in 2000 and 2010: analysis of a large Italian population-based study

  • Pharmacoepidemiology and Prescription
  • Published:
European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To describe prescribing patterns in elderly Italian diabetic patients of the Lombardy Region in 2000 and 2010 using an administrative database. Hospital admissions and mortality were also recorded and compared in the two index years.

Methods

Analyses were performed on the whole cohort of elderly diabetic patients and across age groups. Direct age standardization was done, with data from the Lombardy Region database for 2005 used as reference to compare diabetic populations in the two index years. Logistic regression models were used to analyze changes in hospital admissions and mortality and to calculate odds ratios.

Results

Using data retrieved from the Lombardy Region database we identified 176,384 and 283,982 elderly diabetic patients in 2000 and 2010, respectively. The overall rates of patients treated with antidiabetic drugs were 92.5 % in 2000 and 97.0 % in 2010. Between 2000 and 2010 the prescribing of glibenclamide declined by 30.0 % (from 52.9 to 22.9 %, p < 0.001) and that of biguanides rose by 17.4 % (from 47.5 to 64.8 %, p < 0.001). In 2010 thiazolidinediones, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors and incretin mimetic drugs were seldom prescribed. Drugs for cardiovascular prevention rose in all age classes from 2000 to 2010, and the rates of hospital admission overall fell from 32.0 to 26.8 % (p < 0.001) during the same period, with the exception of those aged ≥85 years. Between 2000 and 2010 the mortality rate decreased in patients aged 65–74 years (from 3.4 to 2.9 %, p < 0.0001) and rose significantly in those aged ≥85 years.

Conclusions

The drug prescription profile of elderly diabetic patients changed from 2000 to 2010, with a tendency toward recommended drugs. These changes may possibly be linked to the decrease in both hospital admissions and mortality in the diabetic group aged 65–74 years.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Igor Month from IRCCS–Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri; Carolina Vastola, Simone Schiatti and Giovanna Rigotti from Lombardia Informatica S.p.A, Alfredo Bevilacqua from SANTER Reply S.p.A and Giuseppe Preziosi from Lutech-Business Intelligence Competence Center for assistance with data acquisition and programming support. We are grateful to Fiorenza Clerici and Guya Sgaroni for secretarial assistance and to J.D. Baggott for language editing.

Conflict of interest

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of General Practice Research, IRCCS–Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Via Giuseppe La Masa 19, 20156, Milan, Italy

    Marta Baviera, Laura Cortesi, Fausto Avanzini, Irene Marzona & Maria Carla Roncaglioni

  2. Laboratory of Geriatric Neuropsychiatry, IRCCS–Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Milan, Italy

    Mauro Tettamanti & Emma Riva

  3. Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases Unit, Ospedale di Desio, Desio, Italy

    Giuseppe Marelli

  4. Laboratory for Quality Assessment of Geriatric Therapies and Services, IRCCS–Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Milan, Italy

    Alessandro Nobili

  5. Regional Health Ministry, Lombardy Region, Milan, Italy

    Ida Fortino, Angela Bortolotti & Luca Merlino

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  1. Marta Baviera
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  2. Laura Cortesi
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  3. Mauro Tettamanti
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  4. Fausto Avanzini
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  7. Alessandro Nobili
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  8. Emma Riva
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  9. Ida Fortino
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  10. Angela Bortolotti
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  11. Luca Merlino
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  12. Maria Carla Roncaglioni
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Correspondence to Marta Baviera.

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Baviera, M., Cortesi, L., Tettamanti, M. et al. Changes in prescribing patterns and clinical outcomes in elderly diabetic patients in 2000 and 2010: analysis of a large Italian population-based study. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 70, 965–974 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00228-014-1678-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00228-014-1678-x

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