Trends in antidiabetes medication use among hospitalised patients with type 2 diabetes: a retrospective single-centre cohort study

Objectives Novel antidiabetes medications with proven cardiovascular or renal benefit, such as sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT-2i) and glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RA), have been introduced to the market. This study explored the 4-year trends of antidiabetes medication use among medical hospitalisations with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Tertiary care hospital in Switzerland. Participants 4695 adult hospitalisations with T2D and prevalent or incident use of one of the following antidiabetes medications (metformin, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP-4i), sulfonylureas, GLP-1 RA, SGLT-2i, short-acting insulin or long-acting insulin), identified using electronic health record data. Quarterly trends in use of antidiabetes medications were plotted overall and stratified by cardiovascular disease (CVD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Results We observed a stable trend in the proportion of hospitalisations with T2D who received any antidiabetes medication (from 77.6% during 2019 to 78% in 2022; p for trend=0.97). In prevalent users, the largest increase in use was found for SGLT-2i (from 7.4% in 2019 to 21.8% in 2022; p for trend <0.01), the strongest decrease was observed for sulfonylureas (from 11.4% in 2019 to 7.2% in 2022; p for trend <0.01). Among incident users, SGLT-2i were the most frequently newly prescribed antidiabetes medication with an increase from 26% in 2019 to 56.1% in 2022 (p for trend <0.01). Between hospital admission and discharge, SGLT-2i also accounted for the largest increase in prescriptions (+5.1%; p<0.01). Conclusions These real-world data from 2019 to 2022 demonstrate a significant shift in antidiabetes medications within the in-hospital setting, with decreased use of sulfonylureas and increased prescriptions of SGLT-2i, especially in hospitalisations with CVD or CKD. This trend aligns with international guidelines and indicates swift adaptation by healthcare providers, signalling a move towards more effective diabetes management.