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. 2021 Feb 7;12(4):399-404.
doi: 10.1007/s13340-021-00495-5. eCollection 2021 Oct.

Evaluation of multiple drug use in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Habibe İnci  1
Affiliations

Evaluation of multiple drug use in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Habibe İnci. Diabetol Int. .

Abstract

Objective: Multiple drug use (Polypharmacy) is common in Diabetes Mellitus (DM) patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the presence of polypharmacy and comorbid conditions in patients with DM.

Method: The sociodemographic data, comorbidity diseases, and prescription records of 607 patients diagnosed with type 2 DM were retrospectively analyzed. Polypharmacy was defined as the use of five or more different drugs.

Results: The mean number of drugs used by the DM patients was 6.7 ± 2.5. It was observed that 77.9% of the DM patients had polypharmacy. The mean number of drugs used by the patients in the polypharmacy group was 7.7 ± 1.7. The most common comorbidities in DM patients were diseases of the musculoskeletal system. The use of drugs for musculoskeletal diseases and the number of drugs were statistically higher in female patients than in male patients. In the DM patients, polypharmacy was higher in the females, those older age, those having a longer history of DM disease, and those having a comorbid disease.

Conclusion: The total number of drugs used by the DM patients showed the presence of polypharmacy. Advanced age, long disease duration, female gender, and presence of comorbidities were predictive factors for polypharmacy in diabetic patients. Before starting additional medication for DM patients, it is necessary to pay attention to the interaction of the drugs to be used and to plan prescriptions considering the medications used by the patient continuously.

Keywords: Comorbid diseases; Diabetes mellitus; Polypharmacy; Risk.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interestNo conflict of interest was declared by the authors.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The data of 681 people in total were scanned from the records. The group with polypharmacy consisted of 522 people; however, 49 people who did not meet the inclusion criteria were excluded from the study and as a result, 473 people were analyzed in the group with polypharmacy. There were 159 people without polypharmacy; however, 25 people who did not meet the inclusion criteria were excluded from the study and as a result, 134 people were analyzed in the group without polypharmacy
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