PRESCRIBING PATTERNS, SAFETY, AND CLINICAL PERSPECTIVES ON EMPAGLIFLOZIN-LINAGLIPTIN COMBINATION AMONG INDIAN HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS AND PATIENTS WITH T2DM

Background: The rising burden of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) leads to disability and complications, highlighting the need for effective and well-tolerated therapies. The current study aims to evaluate the reasons for initiating and switching therapies, the safety and tolerability profile, and patient perceptions of prescribed therapy. 
Methods: This questionnaire-based online survey was conducted among health care professionals (HCPs) across India. A structured 17-item questionnaire was used to explore HCP preferences and prescribing patterns for empagliflozin-linagliptin combination with metformin, focusing specifically on their last 10 patients with T2DM, emphasising on the reasons for initiating, switching, tolerability, side effects, discontinuation due to adverse effects, quality of life and practices related to patient education.
Results: A total of 377 HCPs were included in this study. Inadequate glycemic control was reported by 54.64% of HCPs as the primary reason for initiating, and by 44.30% of HCPs as the main reason for switching to, the empagliflozin-linagliptin combination as an add-on to metformin. A significant proportion (41.38%) of HCPs reported that this combination was very well-tolerated. The most common side effects observed were genital or urinary tract infections (26.79%) and gastrointestinal discomfort (14.06%), while 54.91% of them rarely observed this side effects in patients with empagliflozin-linagliptin combination. More than half (65.52%) of HCPs found that none of the patients discontinued the treatment due to adverse effects. Approximately 31% of HCPs reported that 3-10 patients treated with the empagliflozin-linagliptin combination showed an improved quality of life. The majority of HCPs (61.01%) preferred a combination of verbal and written education when counselling patients about potential side effects.
Conclusion: HCP responses indicate that the empagliflozin-linagliptin combination is effective, well-tolerated, and rarely discontinued, with associated improvements in patient quality of life, supporting its value in routine T2DM management.