The prevalence of cardiovascular disease and antidiabetes treatment characteristics among a large type 2 diabetes population in the United States.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study was to assess atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) prevalence, antidiabetes medication usage and physician specialty encounters among individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in the United States during 2015.

DESIGN

Retrospective, cross-sectional analysis.

PATIENTS

Adults with T2DM in a large US administrative claims database. Patients were divided into ASCVD and non-ASCVD groups. Subgroup analyses were conducted for three age groups (18-44, 45-64 and 65+ years).

RESULTS

Of 1 202 596 patients with T2DM, 45.2% had established ASCVD. About 40% of T2DM patients with ASCVD had visited a cardiologist during 2015, compared to 11% in the non-ASCVD group. The use of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) and sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT-2is) was low overall (<12%), and even lower in the ASCVD group (<9%). The prevalence of ASCVD was 15%, 36% and 71% in the 18-44, 45-64 and 65+ year age groups, respectively. GLP-1RA and SGLT-2i use was ≤5% in the 65+ subgroup, regardless of ASCVD status.

CONCLUSIONS

These real-world data showed a high prevalence of ASCVD among T2DM patients, and confirmed, as a baseline assessment, low use of GLP-1RAs and SGLT-2is in these at-risk patients prior to the 2017 American Diabetes Association guidelines recommending use of agents with proven cardiovascular benefits.