TUESDAY, Feb. 28, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Most U.S. adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D) meet recommended criteria for use of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) and sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2is), but fewer than 10 percent use either of them, according to a research letter published online Feb. 28 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Shichao Tang, Ph.D., from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues used nationally representative data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to examine the number and percentage of persons with T2D who met the recommended criteria for and were using GLP-1 RAs and SGLT2is. Data were included for 1,330 adults with T2D and complete information.

The researchers estimated that 22.4 million U.S. adults with diagnosed T2D (82.3 percent) per year would meet the recommended criteria for use of GLP-RAs and SGLT2is. Most Medicare beneficiaries would be recommended to use these medications. Of those meeting the criteria, 3.7, 5.3, and 9.1 percent used GLP-RAs, SGLT2is, and either of them, respectively.

“More than 80 percent of U.S. adults and nearly all Medicare beneficiaries with T2D would meet the criteria to use either GLP-1 RAs or SGLT2is based on the recommendations from the American Diabetes Association and European Association for the Study of Diabetes,” the authors write. “However, at current drug pricing, using these two new medications as first-line agents among all eligible patients with T2D may not be cost-effective.”

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