County-level variation in cardioprotective antihyperglycemic prescribing among medicare beneficiaries

Background: Cardioprotective antihyperglycemic agents, SGLT2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) and GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP1RA), improve outcomes of patients with type 2 diabetes, but adoption has been limited. Differences across individuals have been noted but area-level variation is unknown. Objectives: Given healthcare access and sociodemographic differences, we evaluated whether SGLT2i and GLP-1RA utilization varies across US counties. Methods: We linked 2019 Medicare Part D national prescription data with county-level demographic measures from the Agency for Health Quality and Research. We compared the number of beneficiaries receiving prescriptions for any cardioprotective antihyperglycemic to the number receiving metformin prescriptions across US counties. In multivariable linear regression with SGLT2i-to-metformin and GLP1RA-to-metformin prescriptions as outcomes, we evaluated county factors associated with use of cardioprotective agents while adjusting for sociodemographic measures, region, and cardiometabolic risk factor prevalence. Results: In 3066 US counties, there were a median 2,416 (IQR, 1681–3190) metformin-receiving beneficiaries per 100,000 population. A median 6.2% of beneficiaries receiving metformin received SGLT2i therapy, varying across counties (IQR, 3.4%–9.2%). A median 9.4% (IQR, 5.0%–13.0%) of beneficiaries receiving metformin received GLP-1RA. In adjusted analyses, higher percentage of Black population was associated with lower use at the county level of people on SGLT2i or GLP-1RA relative to metformin (a SD higher proportion of Black individuals with 0.4% [95% CI, -0.6% to -0.1%] and 0.5% [-0.8% to -0.2%] lower SGLT2i and GLP-1RA prescribing relative to metformin, respectively; P