Oral and Non-insulin Injected Hypoglycemic Therapy Utilization Patterns

A Description of Oral and Non-insulin Injected Hypoglycemic Therapy Utilization Patterns Including Initiation, Switching, and Discontinuation

This protocol is for a series of descriptive analyses conducted within a cohort of patients using linagliptin, other dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors, and other oral and non-insulin injected hypoglycemic medications between May 2011 and July 2012.

Understanding 1) the existing utilization patterns for linagliptin, sitagliptin, saxagliptin, and other oral and non-insulin injected hypoglycemic agents and (2) the differences in utilization patterns between these agents will help with the design, analysis and interpretation of comparative effectiveness and safety studies of linagliptin, other DPP-4 inhibitors, and other agents.

The study will provide an overview of existing utilization patterns for linagliptin, other dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors, other oral and non-insulin injected hypoglycemic agents, in order to detect potential selective prescribing patterns that might lead to channeling bias.

Inclusion criteria:

• diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus
• a dispensing of an oral or non-insulin injected hypoglycemic medication between May 2011 and June 2012
• at least 6 months enrolment in the database preceding the date of the first dispensing

Exclusion criteria:

• age < 18
• missing or ambiguous age or sex information
• at least one diagnosis of type 1 diabetes mellitus or secondary diabetes