National background is associated with disparities in initiation and persistence to statin treatment in patients with diabetes in Denmark

• Published in: Frontiers in pharmacology 2010-12, Vol.1
• Main Authors: Helena eDomínguez, Tina Kenn Schramm, Gunnar Hilmar Gislason, Mette Lykke Norgaard, Jakob eRaunsø, Steen Zabell Abildstrøm, Lars eKøber, Henrik Enghusen Poulsen, Christian Tobias Torp-Pedersen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: diabetes; Registries; Statins
• ISSN: 1663-9812
• DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2010.00142

Background: To investigate the effects of statin use over the last ten years among diabetic patients who initiated glucose lowering medications in Denmark.Methods: We identified all Danish citizens 30 years and older who claimed their first glucose-lowering medication between 1997 and 2006, with follow-up until 2007. Use of medications, national background, income and hospitalizations were obtained by cross-linkage of national registries in Denmark. We analyzed factors related to initiation and interruption of statin treatment. The analyses included country of birth, citizenship and, as proxy for ethnic origin, we constructed variables based on both the subjects and on their parent’s country of birth. Countries were grouped as Denmark, Western countries, Eastern countries and Africa. Results: The cohort included 143,625 subjects. Compared with persons of Danish origin, the initiation of a statin medication during follow-up was significantly lower among patients of non-Danish origin: Odds ratio for subjects of Eastern origin 0.61 [CI 0.49-0.76] and 0.37 for subjects of African origin, [CI 0.24-0.59], both p