Regional Distribution of Cardiologists and Prescription Patterns of Sodium-Glucose Transporter-2 Inhibitors in Japan.

Abstract

The clinical evidence is accumulating since 2015 that anti-diabetic sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors have the beneficial effect of cardiovascular and, recently, renal protection. Although it is not well analyzed how the transfer of this new evidence into daily practice has expedited, we hypothesize that the recent usage of the drugs is positively associated with several certified cardiologists in each region.The 2016 annual and 2016-2017 increased number of SGLT2 inhibitor tablets, based on the National Database of Health Insurance Claims and Specific Health Checkups of Japan, were divided by the estimated number of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus for each of the 47 prefectures. Then, regression analyses were performed to investigate the potential association of the number of certified cardiologists with the drug prescription.The 2016 prescription of ipragliflozin, dapagliflozin, luseogliflozin, canagliflozin, and empagliflozin was 2.7- to 4.4-fold different between prefectures. The 2016-2017 increased prescription volume also varied among prefectures by as large as 7.3-fold for ipragliflozin. Regression analysis revealed that the annual and increased prescription volume of all the SGLT2 inhibitors except luseogliflozin were higher in regions with more certified cardiologists (P < 0.05), even after adjusting for regional parameters.In conclusion, the regional number of certified cardiologists was positively associated with a 2016 annual of and 2016-2017 increase in SGLT2 inhibitor prescription amount, implying an early adopter role of clinical experts in healthcare delivery.