Use of drugs for osteoporosis treatment in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: Population-based cohort study

Journal article

Objective: Ascertain whether there are differences in the prevalence of osteoporosis drugs in patients with type 2 diabetes (DM2) and non-diabetic patients. Material and methods: Retrospective cohort study with data from the Information System for the Development of Primary Care Research (SIDIAP), which contains anonymous clinical information from more than 5 million patients in Catalonia. All 50-year-old patients diagnosed with DM2, who were matched with two subjects without diabetes, were selected. Information on descriptive variables, prevalent fractures and the use of osteoporosis drugs grouped in bisphosphonates (BF), calcium and vitamin D supplements (CaD), and any osteoporosis drug (OD) were collected. Through logistic regression, the association between the presence of DM2 and the use of OD was calculated, adjusting for confounding variables. Results: A total of 166,106 patients with DM2 and 332,212 non-diabetics. The DM2 group presented a higher prevalence of fracture than did diabetics (1.3% vs 0.3%). The use of BF in patients with DM2 was 6.6%, compared to 9.3% in non-diabetics (p < 0.001). Of CaD, 9.7% vs 12.3% (p < 0.001) and OD, 7.6% vs 10.7% (p < 0.001). After adjusting for variable confounders, the patients with DM2 presented a lower probability of being treated with BF (OR=0.67, 95% CI: 0.64-0.68), with CaD (OR=0.71, 95% CI: 0.70-0.73) or with OD (OR=0.66, 95% CI: 0.64-0.67) than non-diabetics. Conclusions: Despite having a higher prevalence of fractures in patients with DM2, they have more than 30% chance of not having received an OD than non-diabetic patients. This may be attributed to an underestimation of risk in these patients.

Authors: Martínez-Laguna, D; Reyes, C; Carbonell-Abella, C; Grande, E; Madorell, B

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Spanish Society for Bone and Mineral Metabolism (SEIOMM)
• Journal: Revista de Osteoporosis y Metabolismo Mineral
• Volume: 9
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 107-113
• Publication date: 2017-12-01
• Acceptance date: 2017-05-21
• DOI: 10.4321/S1889-836X2017000400002
• EISSN: 2173-2345
• ISSN: 1889-836X
• Keywords: bisphosphonates; osteoporosis; general population studies; epidemiology; type 2 diabetes mellitus