Association of Unmet Social Needs With Metformin Use Among Patients With Type 2 Diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship between social needs and metformin use among adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: In a prospective cohort study of adults with T2D (n = 722), we linked electronic health record (EHR) and Surescripts (Surescripts, LLC) prescription network data to abstract data on patient-reported social needs and to calculate metformin adherence based on expected refill frequency using a proportion of days covered methodology. RESULTS: After adjusting for demographics and clinical complexity, two or more social needs (-0.046; 95% CI -0.089, 0.003), being uninsured (-0.052; 95% CI -0.095, -0.009) and while adjusting for other needs, being without housing (-0.069; 95% CI -0.121, -0.018) and lack of access to medicine/health care (-0.058; 95% CI -0.115, -0.000) were associated with lower use. CONCLUSIONS: We found that overall social need burden and specific needs, particularly housing and health care access, were associated with clinically significant reductions in metformin adherence among patients with T2D.

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