Effectiveness of Insulin Degludec in Thai Patients with Diabetes Mellitus: Real-World Evidence From a Specialized Diabetes Center

Abstract

ABSTr AC TBackground Insulin degludec, an ultra-long-acting insulin analogue, has been available in Thailand since October 2016. Although clinical trial results revealed less hypoglycemia, data from real-world settings is limited especially in Asian patients. This study aimed to evaluate prospectively the real-world effectiveness, safety, quality of life (QOL) and patient satisfaction with insulin degludec among Thai patients with diabetes mellitus (DM).Methods From October 2016 to September 2017, all patients who had started insulin degludec for at least 3 months were observed and evaluated at baseline, 3, 6, and 12 months. QOL was assessed using WHOQOL-BREF-THAI and level of satisfaction was measured by 7-point Likert scale. Glycemic fluctuation from paired iPro2 continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) obtained 4-6 weeks apart were also evaluated from a subset of patients with T1DM who switched from insulin glargine to insulin degludec.Results A total of 55 patients (T2DM 76.4 %, females 54.5 %, mean age 57.1 ± 16.1 years, duration of diabetes 16.7 ± 8.8 years, BMI 27.3 ± 5.5 kg/m 2 , baseline A1C 9.3 ± 2.3 %, median duration of treatment 8 months) were included in the study. In T1DM patients (n = 13), the overall mean A1C reduction at 12 months was 0.5 % with minimal weight gain of 0.9 kgs at 12 months. In T2DM patients (n = 42), the overall mean A1C reduction at 12 months was 0.8 % with minimal weight loss of 0.4 kgs at 12 months. The proportion of T1DM patients who could achieve optimal glycemic control increased slightly from 14.3 to 18.2 % but the proportion of T2DM patients who could achieve optimal glycemic control increased from 30.8 to 53.8 %. Patient satisfaction showed a sustained improvement throughout the duration of study. In four T1DM patients who had paired CGM data, insulin degludec provided greater reductions in glycemic variability endpoints with increased time-inrange when compared with previous insulin glargine.Discussion Our data suggested that the effectiveness of insulin degludec was consistent with the results seen in clinical trials with lower risk of patients-reported hypoglycemia, and a significant improvement in glycemic control. Patients also reported higher treatment satisfaction. More long-term and cost-effectiveness data are needed to establish the role of this ultra-long-acting insulin in real-world settings.

Safety and Clinical Outcomes of Insulin Degludec in Korean Patients with Diabetes in Real-World Practices: A Prospective, Observational Study

“…Regarding the effectiveness and safety according to the study background and design, real-world data reported that switching to IDeg from basal insulins and other glucose-lowering medications showed 0.5% and 0.8% HbA1c reduction from the EUropean TREsiba AudiT (EU-TREAT) study ( n = 2550) [ 24 ] and Thai population ( n = 55) [ 20 ], respectively. Both studies also showed the reduced risks of patient-reported hypoglycemia.…”

“…However, there is a growing need for real-world data to provide the necessary evidence for a broad range of patients in routine clinical practice. The real-world data of IDeg from the larger patient population, specifically for Asian patients, are limited [ 20 ].…”

Calidad De Vida en Personas Diabeticas Atendidas en Un Hospital De Lima Norte

“…El Whoqol-Bref, consta de 26 ítems, dos preguntas generales sobre calidad de vida y satisfacción con el estado de salud, y 24 preguntas agrupadas en cuatro áreas (salud física, salud psicológica, relaciones sociales y ambiente); Todas las escalas de respuesta son de tipo Likert (0-5) (21) (22). Los puntajes de dominio se transformaron en una escala lineal de 0 a 100 siguiendo las pautas de calificación; a mayor puntuación, indica una mejor calidad de vida (23) (24) .…”