PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Lixin Guo AU - Jie Zheng AU - Qi Pan AU - Qun Zhang AU - Yan Zhou AU - Weihao Wang AU - Lina Zhang AU - Solomon Tesfaye AU - Jie Zhang TI - Changes in Direct Medical Cost and Medications for Managing Diabetes in Beijing, China, 2016 to 2018: Electronic Insurance Data Analysis AID - 10.1370/afm.2686 DP - 2021 Jul 01 TA - The Annals of Family Medicine PG - 332--341 VI - 19 IP - 4 4099 - http://www.annfammed.org/content/19/4/332.short 4100 - http://www.annfammed.org/content/19/4/332.full SO - Ann Fam Med2021 Jul 01; 19 AB - PURPOSE Although the cost and complexity of managing diabetes is increasing around the world, placing greater burden on patients and their families, the cost of drug regimens prescribed to Chinese patients has not been evaluated. This study was conducted to evaluate the temporal changes in the costs and drugs used for people with diabetes.METHODS Patients enrolled in Beijing Medical Insurance with outpatient medical records from 2016 through 2018 were included in this study. The outcomes of interest were: (1) the number of outpatient medications, (2) the number of comorbidities diagnosed, (3) the estimated annual cost of the outpatient drug regimen, (4) the drug therapy strategies used for diabetic patients, and (5) the most commonly prescribed classes of drugs.RESULTS Over the 3-year period, there was a significant decrease (9.0%, P <.001) in the average number of diabetes medications used. Both antiglycemic and non-antiglycemic drug use decreased by 3.6% and 12.9%, respectively. Similarly, for estimated annual costs of medication, an 18.4% (P <.05) decrease was observed, with a gradual decreased from ¥6,868 ($1,059) in 2016 to ¥5,605 ($865) in 2018.CONCLUSION This is the first large-scale cost analysis of the medical management of diabetes since the implementation of medical insurance in China. Despite the increasing availability of newer, more expensive diabetes drugs, there was a significant reduction in the number of diabetes medications used, that may be due to a more rational approach to optimizing metabolic targets.