ADA 2022 guidelines improve prescribing rates of SGLT2 inhibitors in T2D patients

The overall utilization rates of SGLT2 inhibitors have increased among patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) following the release of the 2022 American Diabetes Association (ADA) guidelines.

Study authors performed a retrospective chart review of data from electronic medical records to assess the rates of guideline-based prescribing of SGLT2 inhibitors in patients with T2D and one or more comorbidities (ie, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease [ASCVD], chronic kidney disease [CKD], or heart failure [HF]) prior to and after the 2022 ADA guideline publication.

Patients who met the eligibility criteria were included if they were managed by either the clinical pharmacy, internal medicine, or specialty medicine departments. They were excluded if they did not have any of the comorbidities mentioned or a form of diabetes other than T2D.

A total of 10,631 patients were identified, of whom 354 (3.3 percent) initiated an SGLT2 inhibitor during the study. The average number of SGLT2 initiations before the 2022 ADA guideline was published was five prescription starts per week. After the guideline publication, initiation of SGLT2 inhibitors increased to seven prescription starts per week.

Of note, most of the SGLT2 inhibitor prescriptions were initiated in the internal medicine department, followed by the cardiology and nephrology departments.

“These results suggest opportunities to optimize the use of SGLT2i in this patient population,” the authors said. 

“Recent clinical trials and guideline updates have highlighted the efficacy and safety of SGLT2 inhibitor use in patients with T2D and comorbidities including ASCVD, CKD, or HF,” they noted.