OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the adherence to a dual therapy regimen combining SGLT2 inhibitors and metformin in managing Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) among the Chinese population. It explored the ramifications of increasing pharmacological intricacies in T2DM, where the necessity for multiple medications can often lead to a decline in adherence, subsequently impacting patient outcomes negatively.

METHODS: This retrospective, non-interventional cohort study analyzed data from an electronic medical database covering 21 provinces in China, spanning January 1, 2022, to July 1, 2023. Participants were patients with outpatient prescriptions of both metformin and dapagliflozin, tracked for at least 365 days post-prescription. The index date was operationally defined as the date on which a patient was first diagnosed with diabetes and subsequently initiated on the combination therapy of metformin and dapagliflozin. Medication adherence, defined as 365-day adherence, was measured using the Proportion of Days Covered (PDC) within one year of the index date. This metric represented the percentage of days a patient concurrently received both metformin and dapagliflozin over the span of 365 days. To ensure comprehensive data integrity, both prescription records and drug charge records from the corresponding outpatient visits were meticulously examined to ascertain the actual dispensation frequency of each medication.

RESULTS: The study encompassed 1,438 patients who met the inclusion criteria and had a one-year wash-out period. Adherence to the dapagliflozin and metformin combined therapy among the Chinese cohort was quantitatively assessed at approximately 39.34%, indicating that patients followed the prescribed regimen roughly 39.34% of the year.

CONCLUSIONS: The research findings indicate a notably low adherence rate to the combined regimen of SGLT2 inhibitors and metformin among the Chinese population with T2DM. This suggests a potential avenue for improvement in patient outcomes through the development and implementation of fixed-dose combination therapies, which may enhance medication adherence.