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7.Uluslararası Sağlık Bilimleri ve Aile Hekimliği Kongresi, İzmir, Turkey, 10 - 12 February 2022, vol.7, pp.339-340, (Summary Text)
Bildiri - 142
Investigation of Vitamin B12 Levels in Patients Using Metformin in a Family Health Center Adem Durmaz Kütahya University of Health Sciences Family Medicine
Aim: Investigation of blood vitamin B12 levels in metformin users. Methods: The study was conducted in a Family Health Center. 98 patients who used metformin but did not use vitamin B12 in the last year were included in the experimental group. In addition, 98 patients who did not use drugs that could affect B12 levels were selected as the control group. Results: The subjects were 57 female (58.2%) and 41 (41.8%) male patients with mean age 59.7±11.67 years (min:23, max:93). Of those using metformin, 96 were using this drug because of diabetes (DM) and 2 because of insulin resistance. The mean vitamin B12 level of the patients was 149.48±39.61pg/ml (min:14; max:247) (normal: 126.5-505 pg/ml). Of the control group with mean age 51.4±14.32 years (min:22; max:86), 61 (62.2%) patients were female, 37 (37.8%) were male. Their mean vitamin B12 level was 177.09±68.65 pg/ml (min:37; max:391). A statistically significant difference was found between the two groups in terms of age and B12 blood levels (p=0.001). Blood B12 levels were found to be lower in the experimental group using metformin (p<0.01) (Table 1)
Conclusion: Metformin is one of the most commonly used agents in medicine. In long-term use, decreased B12 absorption and thus B12 deficiency can be observed. In conclusion, the limitation of our study was that the control group was younger and B12 absorption was better in the young compared to the elderly, but we found that B12 levels were low in metformin users, which showed that vitamin B12 deficiency could be observed more frequently in patients using metformin and it should be monitored more frequently for possible complications.
Key words: Metformin, use, vitamin B12, effect