Introduction: Patients with type 2 diabetes, who live in Asian countries, often use premixed insulin analogs. However, if these solutions are insufficiently mixed prior to use, patients will receive inaccurate doses of intermediate- and/or short-acting insulin, which could affect diabetes control. This study aimed to determine whether insulin users were correctly resuspending premixed insulin analog solutions prior to use.
Methods: We investigated whether Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes were correctly resuspending their premixed insulin analog solutions by assessing the optical densities (ODs) of the solutions.
Results: Among 476 patients who used premixed insulin analogs, we found that the ODs of residual insulin differed significantly from the control values, particularly for high-mix insulin suspensions.
Conclusion: Our findings suggest that patients should be educated about the importance of properly resuspending these insulin analog solutions prior to use.
Trial registration: University Hospital Medical Information Network (UMIN No. 000022329).
Keywords: Diabetes control; Optical density; Premixed insulin analogs; Type 2 diabetes.