Introduction: Poor glycemic control and the resulting development of complications of type 2 diabetes (DM2T) increase treatment costs. If adequate glycemic control cannot be achieved by lifestyle modifications and oral antidiabetic (OAD) therapy, initiation of insulin therapy is recommended. Cost effectiveness of basal insulins of the type NPH or glargine in combination with OAD for the treatment of DM2T was examined in a number of pharmacoeconomic studies. However, none of these studies were conducted in the Czech Republic. Therefore, the aim of the project POET2 was to compare annual direct medical costs of treating DM2T after addition of insulin NPH or glargine to OAD therapy in a clinical practice setting in the Czech Republic.
Methodology: Data collected from 1967 patients who met the criteria for inclusion into the non-interventional prospective registry POET2 (DM2T, ongoing OAD therapy, glycated hemoglobin HbA1c > 6 % IFCC) and who were observed for 12 months following the start of insulin therapy (glargine: n = 1061 vs NPH: n = 906) were analysed. Costs of treatment were analysed from the perspective of health insurance companies and included costs of medication, medical devices and medical procedures.
Results: In both treatment groups a reduction of HbA1c (glargine group: by 1.77 % IFCC vs NPH group: by 1.73 % IFCC) and fasting plasma glucose (glargine group: by 3.67 mmol/l vs NPH group: by 3.63 mmol/l) was observed. Insulin glargine therapy was associated with the incidence of a significantly lower number of documented symptomatic hypoglycemic events (glargine group: 0.840 events per patient and year of treatment vs. NPH group: 1.053 events per patient and year of treatment; p < 0.05). Overall annual direct medical costs associated with the initiation of basal insulin treatment were higher on average by 2547.07 CZK among patients treated with insulin glargine (glargine group: 12173.09 ± 4169.44 CZK vs NPH group: 9626.02 ± 3432.79 CZK; p < 0.001) due to higher costs of medication (glargine group: 7992.97 ± 4001.81 CZK vs NPH group: 3784.2 ± 3181.48 CZK; p < 0.001). By contrast, costs of medical devices (glargine group: 2332.08 ± 917.84 CZK vs NPH group: 3893.95 ± 989.79 CZK; p < 0.001) and medical procedures (glargine group: 1848.04 ± 684.89 CZK vs NPH group: 1947.87 ± 685.43 CZK; p < 0.001) were lower among patients treated with insulin glargine.
Conclusion: Addition of basal insulin to OAD therapy was an efficacious therapeutic intervention for the treatment of DM2T in a clinical practice setting in the Czech Republic. Overall annual direct medical costs were higher among patients treated with insulin glargine than among patients treated with insulin NPH. However, costs of medical devices and medical procedures were lower in the insulin glargine group. In addition, incidence of hypoglycemia was significantly lower among patients treated with insulin glargine.