Helping Your Patients Stay on Their SGLT2 Inhibitor

Abstract

Within Canada, the prevalence of type 2 diabetes (DM2) and pre-diabetes is increasing. Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) have demonstrated benefits in these patient populations who also have cardiac and renal risk factors. In our practice as Cardiovascular Nurse Practitioners (NP), some people who were started on a SGLT2i report that they stopped therapy because of what were described as adverse events. A poor experience makes it challenging for NPs to reinitiate therapy due to patient hesitancy; to avoid this situation and improve compliance, prescribers should screen patients for potential problems and address these issues prior to initiating SGLT2i therapy.