Change in glucose-lowering medication regimens in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany.

ABSTRACT

AIM: To estimate the proportion of individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) undergoing changes in glucose-lowering therapy in 2019 and 2020. METHOD: Individuals with T2DM who had at least one consultation in one of 940 general (including diabetologist) practices in Germany between January and July 2019 (N = 79 268) and between January and July 2020 (N = 85 046) were included. Therapy changes were defined as the prescription of new glucose-lowering drugs, with or without the discontinuation of previous treatments (therapy switch and add-on therapy, respectively). The number of T2DM patients with at least one medication regimen change was calculated for the periods 1 January to 14 March in 2019 and 2020, and for the periods 15 March to 31 July in 2019 and 2020. March 2020 corresponded to the beginning of the lockdown in Germany. RESULTS: Overall, there was a decrease in the number of patients with at least one medication regimen change in the period 15 March to 31 July 2019 compared with 15 March to 31 July 2020 (dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors -15%; sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors -3%; glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists 0%; other oral glucose-lowering drugs -6%; and insulin -21%). CONCLUSIONS: The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-2019) pandemic had a strong impact on glucose-lowering drug use in T2DM patients in Germany. More research is warranted to further investigate the treatment and management of T2DM individuals during the COVID-19 era in Germany and elsewhere.