Unadjusted patient, prescriber, and health plan characteristics for each second-line diabetes medication group*
| Total | DPP4 | GLP1 | INS/B | SGLT2 | SFU | TZD | |
| N (%) | 77 744 (100) | 20 709 (100) | 6082 (100) | 6350 (100) | 3995 (100) | 36 856 (100) | 3752 (100) |
| Women | 33 539 (43.1) | 8924 (100) | 3634 (100) | 2817 (44.4) | 1756 (44.0) | 14 978 (40.6) | 1427 (38.0) |
| Age category | |||||||
| 18–44 | 10 387 (13.4) | 2652 (12.8) | 1237 (20.3) | 1013 (15.9) | 733 (18.4) | 4356 (11.8) | 400 (10.7) |
| 45–64 | 47 409 (61.0) | 13 209 (63.8) | 4057 (66.7) | 3727 (58.7) | 2908 (72.8) | 21 409 (58.1) | 2089 (55.7) |
| 65+ | 19 949 (25.7) | 4846 (23.4) | 788 (12.9) | 1610 (25.3) | 354 (8.9) | 11 090 (30.1) | 1263 (33.7) |
| Race/Ethnicity† | |||||||
| Black | 8451 (10.9) | 2247 (10.9) | 644 (10.6) | 827 (13.0) | 398 (10.0) | 4032 (10.9) | 301 (8.0) |
| Hispanic | 12 999 (16.7) | 3318 (16.0) | 715 (11.8) | 1046 (16.5) | 592 (14.8) | 6527 (17.7) | 801 (21.4) |
| Non-Hispanic white | 48 022 (61.8) | 12 734 (61.5) | 4315 (71.0) | 3930 (61.9) | 2667 (66.8) | 22 217 (60.3) | 2159 (57.5) |
| Unknown/Other | 8280 (10.7) | 2413 (11.7) | 408 (6.7) | 547 (8.6) | 338 (8.5) | 4084 (11.1) | 491 (13.1) |
| Most recent A1c value | |||||||
| <8% | 10 021 (12.9) | 3378 (16.3) | 1246 (20.5) | 402 (6.3) | 864 (21.6) | 3630 (9.9) | 503 (13.4) |
| 8%–10% | 10 433 (13.4) | 3434 (16.6) | 635 (10.4) | 444 (7) | 725 (18.2) | 4747 (12.9) | 445 (11.9) |
| >10% | 7184 (9.2) | 1779 (8.6) | 381 (6.3) | 934 (14.7) | 431 (10.8) | 3380 (9.2) | 274 (7.3) |
| Result not available‡ | 50 114 (64.5) | 12 119 (58.5) | 3820 (62.8) | 4570 (72) | 1975 (49.4) | 25 095 (68.1) | 2530 (67.4) |
| Obesity diagnosis code | 16 855 (21.7) | 4376 (21.1) | 2101 (34.5) | 1193 (18.8) | 1405 (35.2) | 7205 (19.6) | 574 (15.3) |
| Recent hospitalization | 12 836 (16.5) | 2916 (14.1) | 810 (13.3) | 1674 (26.4) | 234 (5.9) | 6597 (17.9) | 601 (16.0) |
| Recent healthcare cost level | |||||||
| Below median | 37 138 (47.8) | 8532 (41.2) | 2202 (36.2) | 3248 (51.2) | 1699 (42.5) | 19 464 (52.8) | 1998 (53.3) |
| 50th–75th percentile | 19 094 (24.6) | 5475 (26.4) | 1491 (24.5) | 1472 (23.2) | 1052 (26.3) | 8687 (23.6) | 916 (24.4) |
| >75th percentile | 21 512 (27.7) | 6704 (32.3) | 2389 (39.3) | 1630 (25.6) | 1244 (31.1) | 8706 (23.6) | 838 (22.4) |
| Charlson Comorbidity Score§ | |||||||
| 0 (lowest) | 3732 (4.8) | 656 (3.2) | 407 (6.7) | 430 (6.8) | 83 (2.1) | 1880 (5.1) | 277 (7.4) |
| 1 | 42 767 (55.0) | 11 823 (57.1) | 3339 (54.9) | 3194 (50.3) | 2205 (55.2) | 20 157 (54.7) | 2055 (54.8) |
| 2 or 3 | 20 213 (26.0) | 5306 (25.6) | 1641 (27.0) | 1729 (27.2) | 1130 (28.3) | 9498 (25.8) | 910 (24.3) |
| 4+ (highest) | 11 032 (14.2) | 2924 (14.1) | 695 (11.4) | 997 (15.7) | 577 (14.4) | 5326 (14.5) | 510 (13.6) |
| Census region location | |||||||
| Northeast | 9189 (11.8) | 3262 (15.8) | 869 (14.3) | 643 (10.1) | 448 (11.2) | 3649 (9.9) | 319 (8.5) |
| Midwest | 16 793 (21.6) | 3614 (17.5) | 1268 (20.9) | 1514 (23.8) | 841 (21.1) | 8856 (24.0) | 703 (18.7) |
| South | 32 528 (41.8) | 9261 (44.7) | 2930 (48.2) | 2500 (39.4) | 2120 (53.1) | 14 355 (39.0) | 1365 (36.4) |
| West | 19 234 (24.7) | 4573 (22.1) | 1015 (16.7) | 1693 (26.7) | 586 (14.7) | 9999 (27.1) | 1365 (36.4) |
| Clinical discipline | |||||||
| Endocrinologist | 5294 (6.8) | 1561 (7.5) | 1250 (20.6) | 581 (9.2) | 379 (9.5) | 1382 (3.8) | 144 (3.8) |
| Family medicine | 33 858 (43.6) | 8822 (42.6) | 2078 (34.2) | 2556 (40.3) | 1767 (44.2) | 16 677 (45.3) | 1955 (52.1) |
| Internal medicine | 24 583 (31.6) | 6799 (32.8) | 1599 (26.3) | 1843 (29.0) | 1047 (26.2) | 12 255 (33.3) | 1042 (27.8) |
| Nurse/Physician assistant | 5893 (7.6) | 1595 (7.7) | 611 (10.1) | 539 (8.5) | 431 (10.8) | 2477 (6.7) | 238 (6.3) |
| Other/Missing | 8116 (10.4) | 1934 (9.3) | 544 (8.9) | 831 (13.1) | 371 (9.3) | 4062 (11) | 373 (9.9) |
| Insurance category | |||||||
| Commercial | 66 168 (85.1) | 18 464 (89.2) | 5786 (95.1) | 5255 (82.8) | 3912 (97.9) | 29 839 (81) | 2915 (77.7) |
| Medicare | 11 576 (14.9) | 2245 (10.8) | 296 (4.9) | 1095 (17.2) | 83 (2.1) | 7017 (19) | 837 (22.3) |
| Health plan structure | |||||||
| Indemnity plan | 809 (1.0) | 176 (0.9) | 27 (0.4) | 82 (1.3) | 25 (0.6) | 453 (1.2) | 44 (1.2) |
| Preferred provider organization | 1594 (2.1) | 404 (2.0) | 133 (2.2) | 132 (2.1) | 78 (2.0) | 763 (2.1) | 84 (2.2) |
| Exclusive provider organization | 6740 (8.7) | 1862 (9.0) | 596 (9.8) | 517 (8.1) | 414 (10.4) | 3041 (8.3) | 314 (8.4) |
| Point of service plan | 44 089 (56.7) | 12 111 (58.5) | 4001 (65.8) | 3542 (55.8) | 2784 (69.7) | 19 759 (53.6) | 1896 (50.5) |
| Health maintenance organization | 21 753 (28.0) | 5229 (25.3) | 1052 (17.3) | 1873 (29.5) | 573 (14.3) | 11 724 (31.8) | 1302 (34.7) |
| Other | 2752 (3.5) | 928 (4.5) | 273 (4.5) | 204 (3.2) | 121 (3.0) | 1117 (3.0) | 112 (3.0) |
*Race and ethnicity are not routinely collected in health plan administrative data sources but have been imputed by the data vendor from regional and other individual characteristics.
†Lab values are not routinely available in health plan administrative data sources unless submitted by the laboratory vendor as part of their contract with the health payer; for these data, 38% of submitted laboratory claims nationally included a result.
‡Reflects the number of chronic disease diagnoses demonstrated in the claims record; higher numbers reflect higher comorbidity.
§p<0.001 for every patient, prescriber, and health plan characteristic included in the table, using a χ2test for categorical data comparing type 2 diabetes medication classes.
DPP4, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors; GLP1, glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists; INS/B, long-acting or intermediate-acting insulin given as a basal (rather than mealtime) injection; SGLT2, sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors; SFU, sulfonylurea or meglitinides; TZD, thiazolidinediones.