{"title":"Fixed-Dose Combination Therapy as a Strategy to Improve Antidiabetic Medication Adherence in People with Type 2 Diabetes: A Narrative Review.","authors":"Patrick J Highton, Mark P Funnell, Kamlesh Khunti","doi":"10.1007/s13300-026-01863-7","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a metabolic condition associated with increased morbidity, mortality and healthcare costs, with poor medication adherence to antidiabetic medications being a major barrier to optimal risk-factor control. Treatment complexity, due to polypharmacy and burdensome dosing regimens, is a key contributor to medication non-adherence in people with T2DM. Fixed-dose combination (FDC) therapy, in which two or more drugs are co-formulated into a single dosage, has emerged as a key strategy to reduce treatment burden, simplify dosing and potentially improve adherence in T2DM. This narrative review evaluates the evidence for FDC therapy as a means of improving medication adherence in people with T2DM. We summarise the development of FDCs, commonly used antidiabetic regimens, patient-reported benefits and their role in clinical practice. Evidence from randomised controlled trials (RCTs) assessing medication adherence is limited, but observational studies consistently demonstrate improved adherence among patients prescribed FDCs compared with free-equivalent combination regimens. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses support these findings, showing that FDCs attenuate the decline in medication adherence observed when transitioning from monotherapy to combination therapy. Additional benefits of FDC therapy include greater treatment satisfaction, potential cost-effectiveness and safety profiles comparable to their individual components. However, challenges associated with FDC therapy remain, including limited dosing flexibility, difficulties in titration and a paucity of long-term adherence data. Further research, particularly RCTs comparing FDCs with equivalent separate combinations and long-term follow-up data, are needed to confirm these benefits and inform clinical guidelines. Overall, FDC therapy is beneficial for simplifying diabetes treatment and improving medication adherence in T2DM.</p>","PeriodicalId":11192,"journal":{"name":"Diabetes Therapy","volume":" ","pages":"627-640"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6000,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Diabetes Therapy","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s13300-026-01863-7","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2026/4/10 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"Medicine","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a metabolic condition associated with increased morbidity, mortality and healthcare costs, with poor medication adherence to antidiabetic medications being a major barrier to optimal risk-factor control. Treatment complexity, due to polypharmacy and burdensome dosing regimens, is a key contributor to medication non-adherence in people with T2DM. Fixed-dose combination (FDC) therapy, in which two or more drugs are co-formulated into a single dosage, has emerged as a key strategy to reduce treatment burden, simplify dosing and potentially improve adherence in T2DM. This narrative review evaluates the evidence for FDC therapy as a means of improving medication adherence in people with T2DM. We summarise the development of FDCs, commonly used antidiabetic regimens, patient-reported benefits and their role in clinical practice. Evidence from randomised controlled trials (RCTs) assessing medication adherence is limited, but observational studies consistently demonstrate improved adherence among patients prescribed FDCs compared with free-equivalent combination regimens. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses support these findings, showing that FDCs attenuate the decline in medication adherence observed when transitioning from monotherapy to combination therapy. Additional benefits of FDC therapy include greater treatment satisfaction, potential cost-effectiveness and safety profiles comparable to their individual components. However, challenges associated with FDC therapy remain, including limited dosing flexibility, difficulties in titration and a paucity of long-term adherence data. Further research, particularly RCTs comparing FDCs with equivalent separate combinations and long-term follow-up data, are needed to confirm these benefits and inform clinical guidelines. Overall, FDC therapy is beneficial for simplifying diabetes treatment and improving medication adherence in T2DM.
期刊介绍：
Diabetes Therapy is an international, peer reviewed, rapid-publication (peer review in 2 weeks, published 3–4 weeks from acceptance) journal dedicated to the publication of high-quality clinical (all phases), observational, real-world, and health outcomes research around the discovery, development, and use of therapeutics and interventions (including devices) across all areas of diabetes. Studies relating to diagnostics and diagnosis, pharmacoeconomics, public health, epidemiology, quality of life, and patient care, management, and education are also encouraged.
The journal is of interest to a broad audience of healthcare professionals and publishes original research, reviews, communications and letters. The journal is read by a global audience and receives submissions from all over the world. Diabetes Therapy will consider all scientifically sound research be it positive, confirmatory or negative data. Submissions are welcomed whether they relate to an international and/or a country-specific audience, something that is crucially important when researchers are trying to target more specific patient populations. This inclusive approach allows the journal to assist in the dissemination of all scientifically and ethically sound research.
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