title: Trends in the prescription of antidiabetic medications from 2009 to 2012 in a general practice of Southern Italy: a population-based study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the prescribing pattern of antidiabetic drugs (AD) in a general practice of Southern Italy from 2009 to 2012, with focus on behaviour prescribing changes.
  
  
  METHODS
  This retrospective, drug utilization study was conducted using administrative databases of the Local Health Unit of Caserta (Southern Italy) including about 1 million citizens. The standardized prevalence of AD use was calculated within each study year. A sample cohort of 78,789 subjects with at least one prescription of AD was identified during the study period.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was an overall increase of the proportion of the patients treated with monotherapy, which was significant for insulin monotherapy (from 11.2 to 14.6%, p<0.001). The proportion of patients treated with metformin remained stable (from 68.3% to 67.8%, p=0.076), while those receiving sulfonylurea dropped from 18.4% to 12.5% (p<0.001); GLP-1 analogues and DPP-4 inhibitors showed the greatest increase (from 1.2% to 6.6%, p<0.001). In the whole sample of 25,148 new AD users, metformin was the most commonly prescribed drug in monotherapy (41.9%), while insulin ranked second (13.3%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows a rising trend of AD monotherapy, with sulfonylureas and incretins showing the more negative and positive trend, respectively.
authors: Regional Centre of Pharmacosurveillance and Pharmacoepidemiology, Department of Experimental Medicine, Second University of Naples, via de Crecchio 7, 80138 Naples, Italy.
authors: Concetta
authors: C
authors: Rafaniello
authors: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine and Pharmacology, Pharmacology Unit, University of Messina, Via Consolare Valeria-Gazzi, 98125 Messina, Italy.
authors: Vincenzo
authors: V
authors: Arcoraci
authors: Regional Centre of Pharmacosurveillance and Pharmacoepidemiology, Department of Experimental Medicine, Second University of Naples, via de Crecchio 7, 80138 Naples, Italy.
authors: Carmen
authors: C
authors: Ferrajolo
authors: Regional Centre of Pharmacosurveillance and Pharmacoepidemiology, Department of Experimental Medicine, Second University of Naples, via de Crecchio 7, 80138 Naples, Italy.
authors: Liberata
authors: L
authors: Sportiello
authors: Regional Centre of Pharmacosurveillance and Pharmacoepidemiology, Department of Experimental Medicine, Second University of Naples, via de Crecchio 7, 80138 Naples, Italy.
authors: Maria Giuseppa
authors: MG
authors: Sullo
authors: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine and Pharmacology, Pharmacology Unit, University of Messina, Via Consolare Valeria-Gazzi, 98125 Messina, Italy.
authors: Francesco
authors: F
authors: Giorgianni
authors: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine and Pharmacology, Pharmacology Unit, University of Messina, Via Consolare Valeria-Gazzi, 98125 Messina, Italy.
authors: Gianluca
authors: G
authors: Trifirò
authors: Caserta-1 Local Health Service, Caserta, Italy.
authors: Michele
authors: M
authors: Tari
authors: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine and Pharmacology, Pharmacology Unit, University of Messina, Via Consolare Valeria-Gazzi, 98125 Messina, Italy.
authors: Achille P
authors: AP
authors: Caputi
authors: Regional Centre of Pharmacosurveillance and Pharmacoepidemiology, Department of Experimental Medicine, Second University of Naples, via de Crecchio 7, 80138 Naples, Italy.
authors: Francesco
authors: F
authors: Rossi
authors: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine and Surgery, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy.
authors: Katherine
authors: K
authors: Esposito
authors: Department of Medical, Surgical, Neurological, Metabolic Sciences, and Geriatrics, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy.
authors: Dario
authors: D
authors: Giugliano
authors: Regional Centre of Pharmacosurveillance and Pharmacoepidemiology, Department of Experimental Medicine, Second University of Naples, via de Crecchio 7, 80138 Naples, Italy. Electronic address: annalisa.capuano@unina2.it.
authors: Annalisa
authors: A
authors: Capuano
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000639:trends*; D005260:Female; D058006:General Practice; D006801:Humans; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents
keywords: Diabetes mellitus; Medical therapy; Prescribing patterns