Increasing Medication Use and Polypharmacy in Type 2 Diabetes: The Danish Experience From 2000 to 2020
Authors' conclusion
Medication use and polypharmacy have increased among patients with type 2 diabetes. Although the implications and appropriateness of this increased medication use are uncertain, the results stress the increasing need for health care personnel to understand the potential risks associated with polypharmacy, including medication interactions, adverse effects, and over- and underprescribing.
Study context
- Population
- All Danish individuals aged ≥18 years with T2D between 2000 and 2020
- Participants
- 461,849 unique patients
- Exposure
- 2000 vs 2020
- 2000n = 84,917reference
- 2020n = 307,011
- Outcome
- Medication use and prevalence of polypharmacy (≥5 or ≥10 medications)
- Follow-up
- 2000 to 2020
Methodological detailsDanish national registries
- Danish national registries
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Daily medications per patient
2000
3.7
mean · SD 2.8
2020
5.3
mean · SD 3.2
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Lifetime risk of polypharmacy
- Exposed to ≥5 medications at some point
- 89% (n = 409,062 of 461,849)
- Exposed to ≥10 medications at some point
- 47% (n = 217,467 of 461,849)
Drivers and correlates of polypharmacy
- Largest net increase: analgesics, antihypertensives, proton pump inhibitors, statins
- Advanced age, male sex, lower socioeconomic status and Danish ethnicity positively correlated with polypharmacy but could not explain the overall increase
Original publication
Increasing Medication Use and Polypharmacy in Type 2 Diabetes: The Danish Experience From 2000 to 2020. Diabetes Care. Published 6 May 2024. doi:10.
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