555-P: Current Status of Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy in Type 2 Diabetes: Results from a National Health Insurance Service National Sample Cohort, 2006-2015

Objectives: To determine the prevalence and clinical characteristics of diabetic peripheral neuropathy in patients with type 2 diabetes in Korea.

Methods: From the National Health Information database maintained by the Korean National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) a representative sample cohort of 1,201,208 participants was randomly selected, comprising 2.2% of the total eligible Korean population in 2006, and followed until 2015. Data source: NHIS-NSC: National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort.

Results: The annual prevalence of DPN increased from 24.5% in 2006 to 26.3% in 2007 and thereafter it tended to gradually decrease to 21.2% in 2015. DPN medication was administered in 68% to 69% of DPN patients. Drug therapy was prescribed for up to 90% mono therapy, dual combination treatment for up to 10%, and triple combination treatment for up to 1%. Prescribed medications for DPN from 2006 to 2015 were α-lipoic acid (54.7% to 43.2%), anticonvulsant drugs (21.7% to 36.8%), tricyclic antidepressants (21.3% to 12.6%), serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (0.3% to 5.5%), γ-linoleic acid (2.3% to 1.9%). Persistency for pharmacological treatment of DPN was 30.0%- 48.5%, and the rate of persistency was increasing over time. The incidence of lower-extremity amputation was greater in patients with DPN compared with those without and the incidence has been gradually increasing through the follow-up period.

Conclusion: The prevalence of DPN patients is about a quarter of those with diabetes, and medication is about 70 percent, and most medications are administered with mono therapy.