Introduction: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a progressive disease with declining beta cell function, ultimately necessitating insulin therapy. Timely introduction of adequate insulin improves management of diabetes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the unmet needs in the management of T2DM patients recently initiated on insulin therapy in routine clinical practice in Serbia.
Methods: The NEED study was a cross-sectional, observational, multicenter, real-world study conducted in Serbia, involving 26 physicians, endocrinologists, treating individuals with T2DM from 17 secondary health care institutions. Study participants were newly initiated with insulin therapy, being treated with basal or premix insulin ± oral antidiabetics (OAD) for 6-12 months.
Results: Four hundred one individuals were included in the study between October 2016 and March 2017. The mean age of study patients was 61.8 ± 9.2 years with mean BMI 30.0 ± 5.0 kg/m2, and duration of diabetes, prior to initiation of insulin therapy, was 8.4 ± 5.9 years. A basal insulin regimen was used by 287 (71.6%) and premix insulin by 114 (28.4%) subjects. The average daily dose (39.8 ± 13.9 units premix vs. 26.3 ± 13.5 units basal), dose/kg (0.47 ± 0.15 units/kg premix vs. 0.31 ± 0.17 units/kg basal), and number of injections per day were higher in the premix compared with basal insulin regimen (p < 0.01). The percentage of T2DM participants with at least one unmet need was high (95.8%). The majority of participants had two or three unmet needs. The most common unmet needs were: HbA1c > 7.0% (79.3%), at least one documented symptomatic hypoglycemia (≤ 3.9 mmol/l) event in the previous 3 months (63.8%), and two or more doses of insulin per day (53.1%). The mean individual HbA1c target was 6.8% in the NEED study cohort, with only 16% of participants reaching it. Most participants [281 (70.1%)] experienced symptomatic hypoglycemia.
Conclusions: The NEED study showed that new insulin users of either basal or premix HM insulin have many unmet needs in the first 6-12 months of treatment. This confirms that in real-life settings novel insulins should be considered in the management of T2DM to reduce the number of symptomatic hypoglycemic events and reach a better HbA1c level.
Funding: Sanofi, Serbia.
Keywords: Basal insulin; Diabetes; Premix insulin; Type 2 diabetes; Unmet needs.