SGLT2i, GLP-1 RA Prescribing Lower for Minority Patients

WEDNESDAY, March 20, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Pharmacy dispensing patterns for sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor (SGLT2i) and glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist (GLP1-RA) medications show lower prescribing for minority patients; and the rate of SGLT2i prescriptions is low among patients with indications for therapy, according to two studies presented at the American Heart Association Epidemiology and Prevention/Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health 2024 Scientific Sessions, held from March 18 to 21 in Chicago.

Luis A. Rodriguez, Ph.D., M.P.H., from Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, California, and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study of adults with type 2 diabetes from six large U.S. care delivery systems to examine pharmacy dispensing of SGLT2i and GLP1-RA medications. The cohort included 681,823 patients, who were followed for a median of six years. The researchers found that from 2014 to 2022, there was an increase in the age-, sex-, and site-adjusted rate of annual pharmacy dispensing of SGLT2i and GLP1-RA medications (from 0.1 to 12.2 and from 0.3 to 3.8 percent, respectively). In the fully adjusted models, SGLT2i and GLP1-RA dispensing was lower for minorities compared with Whites.

Jung-Im Shin, M.D., Ph.D., from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and colleagues characterized SGLT2i prescription patterns by indication for therapy in patients with and without diabetes in 2022 in the United States. A total of 760,337 patients with diabetes and 2,640,077 without diabetes were classified by their indications for SGLT2i therapy. The researchers found that SGLT2i medications were prescribed in 11.2, 11.2, and 7.1 percent with indication present, absent, or unknown, respectively, among those with diabetes, and in 2.5, 0.1, and 0.1 percent, respectively, among those without diabetes.

"Interventions are needed to increase uptake of guideline recommendations for SGLT2i use," Shin said in a statement.

Several authors from the Rodriguez and Shin studies disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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