Persistence of oral antidiabetic treatment for type 2 diabetes characterized by drug class, patient characteristics and severity of renal impairment: A Japanese database analysis

AIM: To evaluate the persistence with oral antidiabetic drug (OAD) treatment characterized by drug class, patient characteristics and severity of renal impairment (RI) in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) in Japan. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective, observational study extracted data from a large‐scale hospital database (April 2008 to September 2016). Patients with T2DM aged ≥40 years on the day of their first prescription (index date) of any OAD (biguanides [BGs], thiazolidinediones [TZDs], sulphonylureas [SUs], glinides, dipeptidyl peptidase‐4 [DPP‐4] inhibitors, or α‐glucosidase inhibitors [α‐GIs]) available between January 1, 2014 and September 30, 2016 were identified. Sodium‐glucose co‐transporter‐2 inhibitors were not available at study initiation. Treatment persistence was assessed by Kaplan–Meier survival curves. Patients were also categorized by RI status using estimated glomerular filtration rate: ≥90 mL/min/1.73 m(2) (G1); 60 to <90 mL/min/1.73 m(2) (G2); 30 to <60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) (G3); and <30 mL/min/1.73 m(2) (G4+). RESULTS: We identified 206 406 index dates from 162 116 eligible patients. The largest number of index dates (91634) was observed for DPP‐4 inhibitors, followed by BGs, SUs, α‐GIs, glinides and TZDs. Treatment persistence was longest for DPP‐4 inhibitors (median 17.0 months, 95% confidence interval [CI] 16.4‐17.5) and BGs (median 17.3 months, 95% CI 16.6‐18.2), and shortest for α‐GIs (median 5.6 months, 95% CI 5.4‐5.9) and SUs (median 4.3 months, 95% CI 4.2‐4.6). Persistence was longest with DPP‐4 inhibitors at all RI stages (G1–G4+), followed by BGs at stages G1/G2. CONCLUSIONS: The longest OAD persistence was observed for BGs and DPP‐4 inhibitors at RI stages G1/G2, and for DPP‐4 inhibitors at RI stages G3/G4+.