Table 4. The most common anti-diabetic drug pathways prior to insulin initiation.
| Patterns | N (% of total cohort n = 11,917) | Time (years) from diagnosis of T2DM to insulin initiation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mean (95% CI) | Median (IQR) | ||
| Met, Sulph, Insulin | 2317 (19.44) | 4.59 (4.46, 4.72) | 4.03 (2.02, 6.55) |
| Sulph, Met, Insulin | 1529(12.83) | 6.20 (6.02, 6.39) | 5.88 (3.24, 8.68) |
| Insulin* | 1167(9.79) | 0.56 (0.47, 0.64) | 0.04 (0.003, 0.20) |
| Met, Sulph, TZD, Insulin | 934 (7.84) | 6.20 (5.97, 6.43) | 5.66 (3.49, 8.41) |
| Met, Insulin | 914(7.67) | 2.27 (2.10, 2.44) | 1.27 (0.24, 3.50) |
| Sulph, Insulin | 826 (6.93) | 2.87 (2.66, 3.08) | 1.85 (0.32, 4.31) |
| Sulph, Met, TZD, Insulin | 771 (6.47) | 7.72 (7.46, 7.99) | 7.59 (4.84, 10.38) |
| Met, Sulph, DPP-4 inhibitors, Insulin | 313 (2.63) | 6.12 (5.73, 6.50) | 5.60 (3.62, 7.42) |
| Met, TZD, Sulph, Insulin | 275 (2.31) | 5.58 (5.21, 5.96) | 5.17 (3.20, 7.42) |
| Met, TZD, Insulin | 248 (2.08) | 4.20 (3.82, 4.58) | 3.49 (1.87, 5.84) |
| Sulph, TZD, Insulin | 111 (0.93) | 4.86 (4.17, 5.55) | 4.25 (1.99, 6.39) |
| Met, Sulph, TZD, DPP-4 inhibitors, Insulin | 109 (0.91) | 8.22 (7.48, 8.96) | 7.98 (5.49, 10.82) |
Note: Patients could have had concomitant therapies in their pathways (including at first ever prescription) which is not shown in Table 4
IQR: Interquartile range
Met: Metformin; Sulph: Sulphonylureas; TZD: Thiazolidinediones
*These patients had insulin as their first ever prescription. Insulin includes human insulin, insulin analogue and animal insulin.