OBJECTIVES: Due to its dramatically increasing prevalence, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a serious public health concern in Saudi Arabia.  Few data have been published that describe how persons with T2DM are managed in clinical practice; we aimed to characterize recent treatment patterns among individuals treated for T2DM in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

METHODS: Charts from 455 adults with T2DM who visited the King Fahad National Guard Hospital from October 2009 to March 2010 (enrolment period) were systematically sampled until the target (n=250) was reached. Treatment data from enrolment to September 2011 were abstracted from subject charts. Treatment regimens, their frequency of use, and the number of switches (drug replacement/removal/addition) over the study period were calculated. Analyses were stratified by T2DM duration; data for those recently-diagnosed (<5 years; n=29) and with longstanding disease (≥20 years; n=67) are presented.

RESULTS: Forty-four percent of subjects were male; at enrolment, mean (SD) age was 61 (13) years, and mean T2DM duration was 11 (8) years.  At enrolment, 42% of subjects had received prior insulin treatment (recently-diagnosed: 23%; longstanding disease: 52%). During the study period, the most common regimens were oral combination therapy (41%) and insulin+oral combination therapy (32%). Overall, 44% received any insulin therapy during the study period (recently-diagnosed: 25%; longstanding disease: 54%). By study end, 49% had received any prior insulin therapy (recently-diagnosed: 29%; longstanding disease: 58%). On average, T2DM subjects had 1.3 treatment switches over the period; little variation was seen by T2DM duration.

CONCLUSIONS: Although the frequency of insulin treatment was lower than reported in other studies from the region, treatment switches are indicative of attempts to improve T2DM control. Novel therapies may improve clinical outcomes among T2DM patients and this study provides valuable baseline data with which to compare the effectiveness of new T2DM treatments in Saudi Arabia.