Use of statins in patients receiving oral blood glucose-lowering drugs

Objectives: The aim was to study the prevalence of co-medication of statins in patients receiving oral blood glucose-lowering drugs by age and gender. Method: Treatment with oral antidiabetics was used as a surrogate endpoint for the presence of type 2 diabetes. Data on patients with at least one prescription of oral antidiabetics in the period 2004-2006 were retrieved from the Norwegian Prescription Database (NorPD). Information on dispensation of statins in the same calendar year was also obtained. Long-term users of oral antidiabetics were defined as patients filling a prescription of these drugs the year prior to the year of observation. Results: In 2006, a total of 76 288 users of oral blood glucose-lowering drugs were registered as long-term users. 57.0 % men and 49.7 % women of long-term users received a statin. 15 646 patients were new users of oral antidiabetics in 2006. 45.5 % men and 34.9 % women of new users received a statin. The proportion of statin users increased with age and was higher in men than in women in all age groups. An absolute increase of 3 % from 2005 to 2006 was observed in the proportion of use of statins in both long-term users and new users of oral antidiabetics. Conclusions: In 2006, 54 % of long-term users and 40 % of new users of oral blood glucose-lowering drugs also received statins; these proportions were an increase from 2005. Men were more likely to receive statins than women which can reflect that, in the general population, the overall cardiovascular risk in men is higher than in women