The analysis of pharmacotherapy by patients suffering with DM in Greece I Author: Georgios Kalaitzidis Tutor: Professor RNDr.Jiri Vlcek,CSc. Department of Social and Clinical Pharmacy, Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Kralove. Introduction: The diabetes in developed countries concerns 11% of people over 70 years and is the cause of 3% of total deaths in general population. Aim: The aim of the study was to assess the Pharmacotherapy of Diabetes mellitus type II in a pharmacy of a small town of Greece, Veria. Methods: It is retrospective cross-sectional study, which was conducted in a pharmacy in a small town of Greece, Veria. The study population consists of 60 patients with known Type II diabetes Melitus. The data collection was performed by a self-reported questionnaire, which was created and developed by the researcher and filled by the respondents. Results: The mean age of the sample was 56.5±17.5 years. Most of them were females (n=40). Most of the patients knew their fasting glucose level (93.3%,n=56).Of the patients who knew their fasting glucose level, 36 (64.3%) patients had high fasting glucose level and 20 (35.7%) had physiological fasting glucose level. From all the patients(n=60), some of them visited their physician every 6 months (n=24), and every 3 months...

"Diabetes mellitus" refers to a spectrum of conditions, which all present with hyperglycaemia as a common medical finding. Diabetes was once thought of as a single disease, but according to Setter et a/. (2000:378), it includes a heterogeneous group of disorders that are secondary to various genetic predispositions and precipitating factors. Type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM) accounts for 10 to 15% of all cases of diabetes mellitus and is clinically characterised by hyperglycaemia and a propensity to diabetic keto-acidosis. Its control requires chronic insulin treatment. Although it may occur at any age, it most commonly develops in childhood or adolescence and is the predominant type of diabetes mellitus diagnosed before age 30 (Beers & Berkow, 2004). Type 2 DM is usually the type diagnosed in patients older than 30 years of age. It is also commonly associated with obesity (Berkow, 1992:1108). The objective of this study was to review the usage and cost of antidiabetic drugs and to determine the influence of the pricing regulations on the cost of these drugs. This research can be classified as retrospective and quantitative. Data were obtained from a prescription claims database, and the study population consisted of all the antidiabetic prescriptions for the year 1 January 2004 to 31 December 2004. The one-year period was divided into three study periods, namely January to April, May to August and September to December. Firstly diabetes mellitus was investigated in order to understand the disease and to determine the prevalence and treatment thereof. It was found that diabetes mellitus is a heterogeneous disorder acquired from both genetic and environmental factors and that education for the general population, and in particular for the patients, is the key to preventing and controlling diabetes and reducing the complications arising from it. Secondly managed health care, pharmaco-economics and a drug utilisation review were investigated in order to understand these concepts. The influence of the South African Government on health care was discussed, including the new pricing regulations of medicine in South Africa. Thirdly, the utilisation patterns of antidiabetic drugs were reviewed, analysed and interpreted. It was determined that the oral antidiabetic agents are relatively less expensive than the insulins and that they are prescribed more frequently, and secondly that the biguanides presented almost half (49.4%, n = 116 138) of all the oral antidiabetic agents. It was also determined that the average cost of the oral antidiabetic drugs was between 21 .O% and 28.0% lower in 2004 than in 1996 - an indication that, despite inflation, the antidiabetic drugs were less expensive in 2004 than eight years ago in 1996. It was also calculated that the total cost savings in antidiabetic medication could have been R1 448 682.26 if the lower price of antidiabetic agents had been implemented during the period January to April. And finally it was also determined that further substantial "cost savings" could have been possible if all the innovator antidiabetic products had been substituted for less expensive generic antidiabetic products. Abstract / Thesis (M.Pharm. (Pharmacy Practice))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

"Diabetes mellitus" refers to a spectrum of conditions, which all present with hyperglycaemia as a common medical finding. Diabetes was once thought of as a single disease, but according to Setter et a/. (2000:378), it includes a heterogeneous group of disorders that are secondary to various genetic predispositions and precipitating factors. Type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM) accounts for 10 to 15% of all cases of diabetes mellitus and is clinically characterised by hyperglycaemia and a propensity to diabetic keto-acidosis. Its control requires chronic insulin treatment. Although it may occur at any age, it most commonly develops in childhood or adolescence and is the predominant type of diabetes mellitus diagnosed before age 30 (Beers & Berkow, 2004). Type 2 DM is usually the type diagnosed in patients older than 30 years of age. It is also commonly associated with obesity (Berkow, 1992:1108). The objective of this study was to review the usage and cost of antidiabetic drugs and to determine the influence of the pricing regulations on the cost of these drugs. This research can be classified as retrospective and quantitative. Data were obtained from a prescription claims database, and the study population consisted of all the antidiabetic prescriptions for the year 1 January 2004 to 31 December 2004. The one-year period was divided into three study periods, namely January to April, May to August and September to December. Firstly diabetes mellitus was investigated in order to understand the disease and to determine the prevalence and treatment thereof. It was found that diabetes mellitus is a heterogeneous disorder acquired from both genetic and environmental factors and that education for the general population, and in particular for the patients, is the key to preventing and controlling diabetes and reducing the complications arising from it. Secondly managed health care, pharmaco-economics and a drug utilisation review were investigated in order to understand these concepts. The influence of the South African Government on health care was discussed, including the new pricing regulations of medicine in South Africa. Thirdly, the utilisation patterns of antidiabetic drugs were reviewed, analysed and interpreted. It was determined that the oral antidiabetic agents are relatively less expensive than the insulins and that they are prescribed more frequently, and secondly that the biguanides presented almost half (49.4%, n = 116 138) of all the oral antidiabetic agents. It was also determined that the average cost of the oral antidiabetic drugs was between 21 .O% and 28.0% lower in 2004 than in 1996 - an indication that, despite inflation, the antidiabetic drugs were less expensive in 2004 than eight years ago in 1996. It was also calculated that the total cost savings in antidiabetic medication could have been R1 448 682.26 if the lower price of antidiabetic agents had been implemented during the period January to April. And finally it was also determined that further substantial "cost savings" could have been possible if all the innovator antidiabetic products had been substituted for less expensive generic antidiabetic products. Abstract / Thesis (M.Pharm. (Pharmacy Practice))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.