<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>The aim of the study was to assess the initiation of insulin therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes using health claims data on prescription medicines. The study evaluated time to insulin initiation and prescribing patterns of other anti-diabetic medicines before and after insulin initiation. Five years after starting non-insulin antidiabetic therapy, 6.4 % of patients were prescribed insulin, which is substantially lower compared to other similar studies. Among all patients who initiated insulin therapy in 2013, 30 % did not continue any other antidiabetic therapy. However, this proportion was lowered to 20 % in 2018. Before insulin initiation in 2018, metformin was prescribed in only 67 % of patients and sulfonylureas in 78 % of patients. Moreover, metformin and sulfonylureas were discontinued after insulin initiation in 26 and 37 % of patients, resp. More attention should be paid to the continuation of oral anti-diabetics, particularly metformin, after insulin initiation.</p>
</abstract>

The aim of the study was to assess the initiation of insulin therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes using health claims data on prescription medicines. The study evaluated time to insulin initiation and prescribing patterns of other anti-diabetic medicines before and after insulin initiation. Five years after starting non-insulin antidiabetic therapy, 6.4 % of patients were prescribed insulin, which is substantially lower compared to other similar studies. Among all patients who initiated insulin therapy in 2013, 30 % did not continue any other antidiabetic therapy. However, this proportion was lowered to 20 % in 2018. Before insulin initiation in 2018, metformin was prescribed in only 67 % of patients and sulfonylureas in 78 % of patients. Moreover, metformin and sulfonylureas were discontinued after insulin initiation in 26 and 37 % of patients, resp. More attention should be paid to the continuation of oral anti-diabetics, particularly metformin, after insulin initiation.

Initiation of insulin therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes: An observational study

Acta Pharmaceutica

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The aim of the study was to assess the initiation of insulin therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes using health claims data on prescription medicines. The...

Initiation of insulin therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes: An observational study

Published Online: Aug 30, 2021

Page range: 147 - 157

Accepted: Mar 23, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/acph-2022-0011

Keywords
diabetes mellitus, insulin, metformin, sulfonylurea

© 2022 Spela Zerovnik et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Initiation of insulin therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes: An observational study

Published Online: Aug 30, 2021

Page range: 147 - 157

Accepted: Mar 23, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/acph-2022-0011

Keywordsdiabetes mellitus, insulin, metformin, sulfonylurea

© 2022 Spela Zerovnik et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
diabetes mellitus, insulin, metformin, sulfonylurea