ArticlePRiMER (Leawood, Kan.)2024
Trends in Vitamin B12 Level Testing in Patients on Metformin From 2000 to 2020.
Article in PRiMER (Leawood, Kan.), 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Vitamin BBMJ open · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Metformin is one of the primary pharmacologic agents for managing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, it has been associated with interference in vitamin B12 absorption and deficiency. Vitamin B12 deficiency and T2DM can present diagnostic challenges for polyneuropathy. Diagnosis is essential for guiding treatment, yet the use of vitamin B12 level testing in this population may have dwindled over time amid changing practice guidelines. This study examines trends over time in the use of vitamin B12 level testing among patients on metformin. Methods: This retrospective trend analysis used data from TriNetX, a real-world, longitudinal clinical database. Patients treated with metformin from 2000 to 2020 were identified using Rx Concept Unique Identifier codes. The number of patients who underwent vitamin B12 level testing at any time after 1 month from metformin initiation was tabulated. Patients were grouped by the year of B12 level testing. Trends in B12 level testing were assessed using the Jonckheere-Terpstra statistical test ( Results: Out of 4,203,020 patients prescribed metformin, 1,055,995 (25.1%) underwent B12 level testing. The highest proportion of patients tested was in 2000 to 2002 (39.6%), while the lowest proportion was in 2018 to 2020 (20.1%). B12 testing utilization declined significantly by 19.5% from 2000-2002 to 2018-2020 ( Conclusions: In this study, we found that the use of vitamin B12 level testing in patients on metformin has significantly declined over the years, potentially impacting early detection of B12 deficiency. Future studies with more granular data from real-life practice are recommended to understand the precise reasons and impact of this trend.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.