Medication Regimen Complexity and A1C Goal Attainment in Underserved Adults With Type 2 Diabetes.

BACKGROUND: From 2009 to 2012, 51.8% of American adults with diabetes had a hemoglobin A1C (A1C) >7.0%. The complexity of antidiabetic medication regimens may have an impact on glycemic control.

OBJECTIVE: The primary objective was to test the hypothesis that higher diabetes-specific medication regimen complexity index (MRCI) was associated with lower attainment of A1C goal <7.0% in an underserved, predominantly Hispanic population of adults with type 2 diabetes. Secondary analyses included less stringent A1C goals of <8.0% and <9.0% and overall patient-level MRCI.

METHODS: This study was a retrospective, observational, cross-sectional study of individuals with type 2 diabetes from January 2011 to January 2016. Data was obtained from the electronic medical record and MRCI was calculated using the 65-item validated Microsoft Access Version 1.0 medication regimen complexity electronic data capture tool. Logistic regression was used to compute unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios.

RESULTS: A total of 368 patients were included in the analysis. High diabetes-specific MRCI was associated with lower attainment of A1C goal <7.0% (adjusted OR = 0.09; 95% CI = 0.04-0.18) controlling for age, gender, ethnicity, insurance, body mass index, smoking status, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia. Similar results were obtained for the less stringent A1C goals. However, results for overall patient-level MRCI were mixed.

CONCLUSIONS: Higher diabetes-specific medication regimen complexity was associated with poorer glycemic control. Simplifying antidiabetic medication regimens, especially where the treatment guidelines give no preference, could be a step toward achieving treatment goals.