Prevalence of Polypharmacy among Egyptian Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Background: Diabetes is a growing health problem in Egypt; Patients with diabetes often have coexisting chronic health conditions which increases the prevalence of multiple drug prescriptions. Aim: To identify the prevalence and predictors of polypharmacy among diabetic patients. Materials and Methods: An analytic cross-sectional record-based study was conducted in Suez governorate, Egypt as a single-center experience study on type 2 diabetic patients. The center is specialized in diabetic foot screening patients and serves all Suez diabetic patients. All 203 clinic medical records from December 2018 to December 2019 were included in the study. Results: Mean age of diabetic patients was 57.9±11.3 years, 56.7% were females, 87.2% were living in urban areas, 76.3% were diagnosed with diabetes for more than 10 years. Half of the study participants (55.2%) were on polypharmacy, older age, and medical history of either cardiovascular diseases or neuropathy were statistically significantly associated with increased frequency of their polypharmacy. Conclusions: This study provided us with an insight about the prevalence of polypharmacy among type 2 diabetic patients and further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to assess medications inappropriateness associated with polypharmacy in diabetic patients is recommended.