Economic burden of type 2 diabetes management in France according to clinical characteristics

We sought to investigate the treatment, medication patterns, and economic burden of type 2 diabetes (T2D) in France.

This was a descriptive retrospective cross-sectional study of a representative sample of adults in the national healthcare system claims database in 2022. Patients with T2D were compared with a propensity-score-matched cohort without diabetes.

In total, 80 127 patients with T2D (mean age, 68.4 years; 54.5% men; receiving diabetes treatment, 66 891) were matched to 237 607 controls. Insulin-containing regimens were prescribed to 20.3% of treated patients; 40.0%, 24.8%, and 13.0% were receiving non-insulin monotherapy, dual therapy and triple therapy, respectively. Insulin use was more common in overseas departments than in metropolitan France (25.5% vs. 20.0%). Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists were prescribed to 17.0% of treated patients. Continuous glucose monitoring prescriptions were recorded in the last quarter of 2022 for 5.6% of treated patients (of whom 94.0% were using insulin). Overall, costs were higher for patients with T2D than for controls (6614€ vs. 3797€), and for patients in overseas departments, compared with metropolitan France (7210€ vs. 6484€).

The cost of treating patients with T2D is almost double that of controls without diabetes. However, the overall costs of treating diabetes in 2022 appear to be stable compared with 2013. Expanding access to new treatments and technologies could help improve clinical outcomes in T2D, potentially leading to reductions in costly complications. There is a need for improved health policies for people living with T2D in the overseas departments.