Drug use in patients with diabetes

OBJECTIVE - To describe the use of pharmaceutical medications by patients with diabetes in Sweden. RESEARCH DESIGN END METHODS - We analyzed the computerized Surveys of Living Conditions (SLC), performed regularly in Sweden, for the years 1988 and 1989, among individuals aged 16-84 years. Drug use (during a 2-week period) and the use of health services (during a 3-month period) were registered for subjects with diabetes (n = 361) and compared with age- and gender-standardized figures (using the diabetes group as the standard) in subjects with hypertension but without diabetes (n = 980), in subjects with a musculoskeletal condition but without diabetes (n = 2,187), in healthy subjects free from any medical condition (n = 6,664), and in the general population sample (n = 12,717). RESULTS - The reported use oi medication was higher for subjects with diabetes compared with the general population regarding overall use (92.5 vs. 71.9%; P < 0.001), the use of cardiovascular drugs (52.2 vs. 36.3%; P < 0.001), all use of analgesics (43.8 vs. 36.5%; P < 0.05), and use of psychoactive drugs (23.5 vs. 15.3%; P < 0.01). Compared with the hypertension group, the use was lower regarding cardiovascular drugs (52.2 vs. 93.3%; P < 0.001), and compared with the musculoskeletal group, the use was lower regarding all use of analgesics (43.8 vs. 56.5%; P < 0.01) and the use of herbal products (6.8 vs. 11.8%; P < 0.05), but was higher regarding cardiovascular drugs (52.2 vs. 37.8%; P < 0.001). The use was higher compared with the healthy individuals, regarding all groups oi drugs with the exception of vitamins and herbal products. CONCLUSIONS - Diabetic subjects have a higher overall use of drugs compared with the general population. Compared with other chronic illnesses, the differences are small except for disease-specific drugs (cardiovascular drugs in the hypertension group and analgesics in the musculoskeletal group). The main difference concerns the comparison with healthy subjects who had a markedly higher drug rate among diabetic subjects, thus signifying a greater impact on health.