Aim: To assess patient-reported outcomes associated with initiating insulin glargine among insulin-naïve patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
Methods: This was a pooled analysis of patient-level data from Phase 3, randomized controlled trials evaluating once-daily insulin glargine vs. comparator treatment for ≥24 weeks in previously insulin-naïve adult patients with T2DM and poor glycaemic control. Eligible studies utilized strict, predefined insulin titration algorithms with weekly dose-adjustment to achieve fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels of ≤5.6 mmol/l. Treatment satisfaction was measured using the Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire (DTSQ) change (c) and status (s) versions.
Results: A total of 1577 patients from four studies were included; 830 patients treated with insulin glargine and 747 with comparators. At week 24, DTSQc scores improved in both groups with a significantly higher increase in treatment satisfaction for insulin glargine vs. comparators (13.5 vs. 12.1; p < 0.0001). Multivariate regression analysis revealed that significant predictors of DTSQc improvement at week 24 were insulin glargine treatment (p < 0.0001), higher baseline DTSQs (p < 0.0001), and lower baseline body weight (p = 0.0103). Greater improvement in DTSQc at week 24 was significantly associated with decrease from baseline in glycosylated haemoglobin (p < 0.001) and FPG (p = 0.0001); a numerically more positive change in weight from baseline approached significance (p = 0.07).
Conclusion: Initiation of insulin glargine in insulin-naïve patients with T2DM is associated with greater improvements in treatment satisfaction than alternative interventions, with perceived improvements in glycaemic control and baseline weight likely to be important factors.
Keywords: insulin therapy; type 2 diabetes.
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.