Type 2 diabetes disease and management patterns across a large, diverse healthcare system: Issues and opportunities for guideline-directed therapies

The prevalence, chronicity and clinical impact of type 2 diabetes (T2D) defines this disease state as a critical determinant in morbidity and mortality, as encountered by individuals, health care systems, and public health in general. The need to understand and optimize T2D identification and management is now further heightened by the advent of medications with established cardiovascular (CV) and kidney benefits in such patients, namely sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) and glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RA). Prescription rates for these agents have remained low despite guidelines incorporating and emphasizing their use. Better understanding T2D disease and management patterns, including percentage of patients meeting guideline indications, is necessary to address undertreatment, improve patient management, and enable better strategies. We evaluated such issues, including eligibility for and utilization of SGLT2i and GLP-1 RA, in a large health system caring for over 1.5 million patients annually.

The electronic health record (EHR) at a large health network in the Northeastern United States was queried to identify patients 18 years of age or older with T2D and at least 1 hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) between January 1, 2020 and January 1, 2023, examining those with T2D and 1) atherosclerotic CV disease (ASCVD), 2) an estimated 10-year ASCVD risk score ≥ 10% without known ASCVD, 3) heart failure (HF), and/or 4) chronic kidney disease (CKD) based on EHR listed comorbidities. Demographics, medications, comorbidities, and indications for SGLT2i and/or GLP-1 RA therapy were assessed by 1 or more of the 4 indications above as outlined in society guidelines.

Of the 147,338 patients who met inclusion criteria, 47% were female, 28% were non-white, and 14% with a non-English language preference. Of those, 121,508 (83%) had an indication for either SGLT2i or GLP-1 RA based on guideline recommendations: 17% were prescribed an SGLT2i, 22% were prescribed GLP-1 RA, and 6% of patients were prescribed both medications. Only 33% of all eligible patients were prescribed therapy. Of patients eligible for either an SGLT2i or GLP-1 RA therapy not currently receiving either therapy, 49% had 10-year ASCVD risk ≥ 10% without known ASCVD, 42% had ASCVD, 52% had CKD, and 14% had HF.

More than 4 out of 5 patients with T2D had a CV or kidney indication for either SGLT2i or GLP-1 RA. However, uptake of SGLT2i/GLP-1 RA in these high-risk populations remains low (just 32%) across this health network. Future studies are needed to identify better strategies to overcome provider, patient, and system-level barriers to the uptake and dissemination of guideline-concordant T2D therapies.