According to real-world data on Asians with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), there were marginally lower magnitudes of oral anti-diabetic drug (OAD) initiation and dose titration when compared with the results from clinical trials.

• In this retrospective study, a cohort of multi-ethnic adult Asian patients (n=57,910) with T2DM was included; patients were split into “No OAD”, “Non-titrators,” and “Titrators” cohorts depending on prescribing patterns.

• Of participants, 43,338 had at least one OAD titration, with overall 76,990 pairs of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) values linked with an OAD titration.

• Overall 206 unique OAD titrations occurred, and initiation of OADs led to a decrease of HbA1c by 3 to 12 mmol/mol (0.3 to 1.1%), respectively.

• These values were slightly lower compared with those documented in clinical trials of 6 to 14 mmol/mol (0.5 to 1.25%).

• HbA1c levels alterations resulting from up-titration, down-titration, and discontinuation were −1 to −8 mmol/mol (−0.1 to −0.7%), +1 to 7 mmol/mol (+0.1 to +0.6%), and +2 to 11 mmol/mol (+0.2 to +1.0%), respectively.

• Initiating newer OADs, namely dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors and sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors, conferred HbA1c lowering effect of 8 to 11 mmol/mol (0.7 to 0.9%) and 7 to 11 mmol/mol (0.6 to 1.0%), respectively.