Therapeutic Inertia in the Pharmacologic Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Investigation of Causes and Recommendations for Change

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a pervasive chronic condition and a serious global health issue. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) comprises approximately 90-95% of all DM cases (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2022). The prevalence of T2DM has risen rapidly over time; in fact, the number of adults diagnosed with T2DM over the past 20 years has more than doubled (CDC, 2022). T2DM currently affects an estimated 462 million people globally (equal to 6.28% of the world’s population), including more than one out of every 10 Americans (American Diabetes Association [ADA], 2018; CDC, 2022; Khan et al., 2020). In Washington state specifically, DM is the seventh leading cause of death (Washington State Department of Health [WADOH], 2018). As of 2018, one out of every 11 Washington adults have DM, and an estimated 33.7% of Washington\u27s adult population have prediabetes (CDC, 2018; WADOH, 2018)