Use of medicines by older people with type 2 diabetes

This report describes dispensing patterns of glucose lowering medicines and medicines for other conditions associated with diabetes in a concessional population cohort of Australians aged 65 and over diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. It uses linked data from the National Diabetes Services Scheme and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme to explore medicine supply patterns in 2012 by age and time since diabetes diagnosis. It shows that, in general, the longer the time since diagnosis, the more likely it is that an individual would be supplied with all medicine types and the more intense their glucose lowering treatment regimens would be. This report highlights the complexity of pharmacological management in older people with type 2 diabetes and the diversity of medicine supply patterns in relation to age and time since diabetes diagnosis.