Treatment Patterns of Traditional Chinese Medicine Formula Granules among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Objective: To analyze the utilization patterns of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula granules in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. Methods: Data were collected from all district-owned tertiary comprehensive hospitals and community health service centers in Longhua District of Shenzhen from May 15, 2018 to March 31, 2020. We first assessed how TCM formula granules were used as add-on therapies to routine T2DM medications and compared the routine medication categories and combinations with or without add-on therapies. Next, we evaluated the overall use of TCM formula granules in T2DM patients, including patient percentages and prescription characteristics. Results: Of the T2DM patients in the analytic sample, 4.19% with routine T2DM medication prescriptions used TCM formula granules as add-on therapies. Of the routine medication prescriptions, 10.94% of sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) prescriptions had TCM formula granules as add-on therapies, the highest among all categories. In addition, the categories and the use of combination therapies differed significantly between routine T2DM medication prescriptions with and without TCM formula granules as add-on therapies. Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (5.73%/3.88%, p < 0.001) and SGLT2i (0.43%/0.1%, p < 0.001) had higher proportions in routine medication prescriptions with TCM formula granules as add-on therapies than in those without. In addition, routine medication prescriptions with TCM formula granules as add-on therapies had a higher proportion of monotherapies of routine medications than those without (54.44%/49.74%, p < 0.01). Of T2DM patients, 4.09% received TCM formula granule prescriptions within this period. On average, TCM formula granule prescriptions included 10.9 types of TCM granules, with an interval of 43.41 days. The average cost of TCM formula granules per prescription was 107.95 yuan. Poria formula granules were the most commonly used among T2DM patients. Conclusion: The uptake rate of TCM formula granules among T2DM patients is relatively low, indicating that they are not commonly prescribed for clinically treating T2DM.