Management of patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in primary care

Background and objective Approximately 65% of cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related deaths in Australia occur in people with diabetes or pre-diabetes. The aim of this study was to investigate general practice management of risk factors among patients with both conditions. Methods This was a cross-sectional study of 33,559 adult patients with both type 2 diabetes and CVD at 1 November 2018, using the general practice data program MedicineInsight. Results One-third of patients did not have a record in their current medications list for all three recommended medicines to reduce cardiovascular risk. Potentially suboptimal monitoring and achievement of targets for diabetes and cardiovascular risk factors was also identified. Most patients using metformin-based combination therapy were prescribed blood glucose-lowering medicines that do not have evidence of cardiovascular benefit. Discussion These data suggest opportunities to support general practices to optimise patient management. Datasets such as MedicineInsight can help practices identify patients who may benefit from recall.