Treatment Satisfaction with Insulin Glargine in Insulin-Naïve Type 2 Diabetes Patients—A Hong Kong Based Registry

Objective: To evaluate patient satisfaction with insulin glargine. Design: Multicentre observational registry. Data were collected at baseline/inclusion visit, and 12 and 24 weeks. Setting: Physicians in Hong Kong, who managed type 2 diabetes patients and had >5 years’ experience in using insulin glargine. Patients: People with type 2 diabetes, new to insulin, aged 18 - 75 years, who were previously being treated with ≤3 oral antidiabetes drugs (OAD) and had HbA1c > 7%, and in whom the physicians had chosen to prescribe glargine for the first time. Main outcome measures: Treatment satisfaction assessed by Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire (DTSQs), glycaemic control (fasting blood glucose and HbA1c) and adverse events. Results: Between April 2010-October 2011, 41 patients completed the study. Average duration of diabetes and OAD therapy was 7.8 ± 8.0 years and 6.7 ± 7.4 years, respectively. The global DTSQs treatment satisfaction scores improved from 20.9 at baseline to 28.4 (p < 0.05) at the end of 24 weeks insulin glargine treatment. Analysis of DTSQs scores showed a decrease in perceived frequency of hyperglycaemia (4.1 to 1.9, p < 0.001) and hypoglycemia (2.2 to 1.5, p = 0.079). Perceived convenience (0.60, p < 0.025) and flexibility (0.9, p < 0.009) were also improved from baseline. Reduction in mean HbA1c (10.2% ± 2.2% to 7.0% ± 1.0%) and fasting blood glucose (10.9 ± 4.0 mmol/L to 6.4 ± 1.8 mmol/L) from baseline to study termination was significant (p < 0.05). Almost half (48.7%) of patients achieved HbA1c ≤ 7.0%, while 26.0% patients had FBG < 5.6 mmol/L. In total, 9 (22.0%) patients experienced at least one hypoglycemia event; there were no reports of severe hypoglycaemia. Conclusions: Despite a small number of subjects completed in this study, the study demonstrated clearly that the addition of insulin glargine to OAD therapy in diabetes management improved treatment satisfaction and perceived frequency of hyper-and hypoglycaemia together with glycaemic control close to recommended target without severe side-effects in this cohort of patients in Hong Kong.