The prevalence of glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes treated with insulin: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Objectives: To estimate the overall prevalence of glycemic control among patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) treated with insulin.

Study design: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Methods: A systematic search was performed in PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane CENTRAL, and ProQuest Dissertation and Theses from 2000 to January 2022. Cross-sectional studies were included if they were conducted on more than 292 patients with T2D and reported the number of insulin-treated patients who were justified as achieving glycemic control. The Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal checklist was used to assess the quality of the included studies. Pooled estimates of the prevalence of glycemic control were calculated and reported with a 95% confidence interval (95% CI) using a random-effects model. All analyses were conducted using RStudio Version 2022.02.0, Build 443 (meta package).

Results: A total of 42 studies (234,345 patients) met the inclusion criteria and were classified as having a low risk of bias. The overall estimated prevalence of glycemic control to insulin therapy among patients with T2D was 26.02% (95% CI: 23.17, 29.08). A subgroup of 34 studies that set the target HbA1c <7% showed that 23.75% (95% CI: 21.47, 26.18) of patients with T2D treated with insulin were justified as achieving good glycemic control.

Conclusions: This study provided summative evidence that glycemic control among patients with T2D treated with insulin was suboptimal and should be appropriately addressed.

Keywords: Glycemic control; Insulin; Prevalence; Type 2 diabetes.