The use of antidiabetic medications in community-dwelling diabetic patients in Shanghai in 2018

Objective To investigate the use of diabetes medications and their effects on the community diabetic patients in Shanghai, China, and provide the evidence for the use of antidiabetic drugs in diabetic patients in the region. Methods The data were from a database of a 2018 Survey on Community Diabetes Mellitus in Shanghai, China. There were 4 612 subjects included in this cross-sectional study in 2018. According to the use of antidiabetic drugs, the population was divided into untreated group, single drug group, double drugs combination group and multi-drugs combination group, to compare the fasting blood glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin, BMI and prevalence of diabetic complications in different groups. Results About 70.9% of the 4 612 patients used hypoglycemic agents, 34.8% used metformin, 35.1% used sulfonylureas, 22.9% used alpha glycosidase inhibitors, and 13.8% used insulin. The prevalence of diabetic nephropathy, retinopathy, neuropathy, stroke, and diabetic foot was higher in the combination than in the untreated and single-drug users (P 0.05). Conclusion The most common used antidiabetic drugs in diabetic patients in Shanghai are metformin, sulfonylureas, α-glycosides inbibitor, and insulin. The blood glucose control in diabetic patients in Shanghai community is not good enough. Patients with a longer duration of diabetes, a lower rate of HbA1C at goal, and a higher prevalence of diabetic complications may be more prone to use multiple hypoglycemic drugs. Key words: HbA1C; Fasting blood glucose; Body mass index; Antidiabetic drugs