Antidiabetic Therapy during Pregnancy: The Prescription Pattern in Italy

Anna Locatelli, Sara Ornaghi (), Alessandra Terzaghi, Valeria Belleudi, Filomena Fortinguerra, Francesca Romana Poggi, Serena Perna, Francesco Trotta and MoM-Net Group
Additional contact information
Anna Locatelli: School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Via Pergolesi 33, 20900 Monza, Italy
Sara Ornaghi: School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Via Pergolesi 33, 20900 Monza, Italy
Alessandra Terzaghi: School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Via Pergolesi 33, 20900 Monza, Italy
Valeria Belleudi: Department of Epidemiology, Lazio Regional Health Service, ASL Roma 1, 00147 Rome, Italy
Filomena Fortinguerra: Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA), 00187 Rome, Italy
Francesca Romana Poggi: Department of Epidemiology, Lazio Regional Health Service, ASL Roma 1, 00147 Rome, Italy
Serena Perna: Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA), 00187 Rome, Italy
Francesco Trotta: Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA), 00187 Rome, Italy
MoM-Net Group: Membership of the Group is provided in the Appendix A.

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 23, 1-13

Abstract: Pregestational and gestational diabetes mellitus are relevant complications of pregnancy, and antidiabetic drugs are prescribed to obtain glycemic control and improve perinatal outcomes. The objective of this study was to describe the prescription pattern of antidiabetics before, during and after pregnancy in Italy and to evaluate its concordance with the Italian guideline on treatment of diabetes mellitus. A multi-database cross-sectional population study using a Common Data Model was performed. In a cohort of about 450,000 women, the prescribing profile of antidiabetics seemed to be in line with the Italian guideline, which currently does not recommend the use of oral antidiabetics and non-insulin injection, even if practice is still heterogeneous (up to 3.8% in the third trimester used oral antidiabetics). A substantial variability in the prescription pattern was observed among the Italian regions considered: the highest increase was registered in Tuscany (4.2%) while the lowest was in Lombardy (1.5%). Women with multiple births had a higher proportion of antidiabetic prescriptions than women with singleton births both in the preconception period and during pregnancy (1.3% vs. 0.7%; 3.4% vs. 2.6%) and used metformin more frequently. The consumption of antidiabetics in foreign women was higher than Italians (second trimester: 1.8% vs. 0.9%, third trimester: 3.6% vs. 1.8%).

Keywords: gestational diabetes mellitus; pregestational diabetes mellitus; pregnancy; antidiabetic drugs; prescription pattern (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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