Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41315022›Full record

ArticleDiabetic medicine : a journal of the British Diabetic Association2026

Polypharmacy and potentially inappropriate prescribing in people with type 2 diabetes: An analysis of the Scottish Diabetes Research Network national diabetes cohort.

William Berthon, Stuart J McGurnaghan, Luke A K Blackbourn, Amanda de Assuncao Santiago Fernandes, Lauren E Walker, Rory J McCrimmon, Helen M Colhoun, David A McAllister, Peter Hanlon

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Article in Diabetic medicine : a journal of the British Diabetic Association, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

William BerthonInstitute of Genetics and Cancer, College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Stuart J McGurnaghanInstitute of Genetics and Cancer, College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Luke A K BlackbournInstitute of Genetics and Cancer, College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Amanda de Assuncao Santiago FernandesSchool of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
Lauren E WalkerCentre for Experimental Therapeutics, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
Rory J McCrimmonDivision of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3957-1981
Helen M ColhounInstitute of Genetics and Cancer, College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
David A McAllisterSchool of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
Peter HanlonSchool of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5828-3934

Funding

Diabetes UK
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimsThis study assesses national trends and, socio-demographic and clinical factors associated with polypharmacy and potentially in appropriate prescribing among people with type 2 diabetes in Scotland from 2012 to 2022.

methodsRetrospective cohort study using nationwide data from the Scottish Care Information - Diabetes database. Individuals aged ≥40 years with type 2 diabetes were included. Medication counts were based on unique medications dispensed per calendar year. Potentially inappropriate medications were based on the 2023 Beers criteria and applied to people aged over 65 years. A Poisson mixed-effects model with individual-level random intercepts assessed the relationship between the number of drug classes dispensed and year, gender, age group and socio-economic status, Elixhauser comorbidity index and the hospital frailty risk score.

results387,338 people were included. The median number of medications dispensed per person was 9 (interquartile range 5-13). Adjusted medication counts were modestly higher in older people (rate ratio [RR] 1.06, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.06-1.06 at age 80+ compared to 40-59), higher in women (1.14, 1.13-1.14), in more deprived areas (1.24, 1.23-1.24 in the most deprived vs. the most affluent quintile) and in those with higher comorbidity (1.12, 1.12-1.13 in 4+ vs. 0 comorbidities) but not with high frailty risk (1.00, 1.00-1.00). People over 65 were dispensed a median of 2 (IQR 1-3) potentially inappropriate medications. Potentially inappropriate medication showed a stronger association with comorbidity (1.24, 1.23-1.25) and a positive association with high frailty risk (1.24, 1.23-1.25).

conclusionsThe degree of polypharmacy highlights the need for regular formal medication reviews in this population.

Indexed as

Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2Hypoglycemic AgentsInappropriate PrescribingPolypharmacyAdultAgedAged, 80 and overCohort StudiesComorbidityFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPotentially Inappropriate Medication ListRetrospective StudiesScotlandHypoglycemic Agentsadverse effects of treatmentdrug treatmentepidemiologyoral agentssocio‐economic

Identifiers

PMID41315022
PMCPMC12857861

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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.