Prevalence of potentially inappropriate medications among newly treated patients with type 2 diabetes in UK primary care

Aims The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of potentially inappropriate prescriptions (PIPs) in patients starting their first noninsulin antidiabetic treatment (NIAD) using two explicit process measures of the appropriateness of prescribing in UK primary care, stratified by age and polypharmacy status. Methods A descriptive cohort study between 2016 and 2019 was conducted to assess PIPs in patients aged ≥45 years at the start of their first NIAD, stratified by age and polypharmacy status. The American Geriatrics Society Beers criteria 2015 was used for older (≥65 years) patients and the Prescribing Optimally in Middle‐age People's Treatments criteria was used for middle‐aged (45‐64 years) patients. Prevalence of overall PIPs and individual PIPs criteria was reported using the IQVIA Medical Research Data incorporating THIN, a Cegedim Database of anonymized electronic health records in the UK. Results Among 28 604 patients initiating NIADs, 18 494 (64.7%) received polypharmacy. In older and middle‐aged patients with polypharmacy, 39.6% and 22.7%, respectively, received ≥1 PIP. At the individual PIP level, long‐term proton pump inhibitors (PPI) use was the most frequent PIP among older adults, and strong opioid without laxatives was the most frequent PIP in middle‐aged patients with polypharmacy (11.1% and 4.1%, respectively). Conclusions This study revealed that patients starting NIAD treatment receiving polypharmacy have the potential for pharmacotherapy optimization.