No abstract

Background:The First Basal Insulin Evaluation (FINE) Asia study is a multinational, prospective, observational study of insulin-naïve Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients in Asia, uncontrolled (A1c ≥ 8%) on oral hypoglycemic agents, designed to evaluate the impact of basal insulin initiation.Methods:Basal insulin was initiated with or without concomitant oral therapy and doses were adjusted individually. All treatment choices, including the decision to initiate insulin, were at the physician's discretion to reflect real-life practice.Results:Patients (n= 2679) from 11 Asian countries were enrolled (mean [±SD] duration of diabetes 9.3 ± 6.5 years; weight 68.1 ± 12.7 kg; A1c 9.8 ± 1.6%). After 6 months of basal insulin (NPH insulin, insulin glargine, or insulin detemir), A1c decreased to 7.7 ± 1.4%; 33.7% patients reached A1c <7%. Fasting blood glucose (FBG) decreased from 11.7 ± 3.6 to 7.2 ± 2.5 mmol/L and 36.8% of patients reached FBG <6.1 mmol/L. The mean daily insulin dose prescribed increased marginally from 0.18 to 0.23 U/kg per day at baseline to 0.22–0.24 U/kg per day at Month 6. Mean changes in body weight and reported rates of hypoglycemia were low over the duration of the study.Conclusions:Initiation of insulin therapy is still being delayed by approximately 9 years, resulting in many Asian patients developing severe hyperglycemia. Initiating insulin treatment with basal insulin was effective and safe in Asian T2DM patients in a real-world setting, but insulin needs may differ from those in Western countries.

The poor control of risk factors, suboptimal use of organ-protective drugs and high frequencies of hypoglycaemia highlight major treatment gaps in patients with diabetic kidney disease in Asia.

Aims To explore the pattern of insulin use and glycaemic control in Asian people with type 2 diabetes, stratified by gender, young‐onset diabetes (YOD; diagnosed before age 40 years), and diabetic kidney disease (DKD; estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR] < 60 mL/min/1.73m2). Materials and methods We conducted a cross‐sectional analysis of 97 852 patients from 11 Asian countries/regions (2007–2017) included in the prospective Joint Asia Diabetes Evaluation (JADE) Register. Results Among 18 998 insulin users (47% women, mean ± SD age 59.2 ± 11.7 years, diabetes duration 13.2 ± 8.3 years, glycated haemoglobin [HbA1c] 72 ± 21.4 mmol/mol [8.74 ± 1.95%], median total daily insulin dose [TDD] 0.27–0.82 units/kg), 25% and 29.5% had YOD and DKD, respectively. Premixed (44%) and basal‐only (42%) insulin were the most common regimens. Despite being more commonly treated with these two regimens with higher insulin dosages, patients with YOD had worse HbA1c levels than their late‐onset peers (73 ± 20.5 vs. 71 ± 21.2 mmol/mol [8.82 ± 1.87% vs. 8.66 ± 1.94%]; P < 0.001). Fewer women than men attained an HbA1c level < 53 mmol/mol (7%; 15.7% vs 17.1%; P = 0.018). Adjusting for age, diabetes duration, TDD, HbA1c, eGFR, and use of oral glucose‐lowering drugs at baseline, the odds of self‐reported hypoglycaemia were higher in women (vs. men: adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.16, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.05–1.28) and in patients with DKD treated with a premixed regimen (1.81 [95% CI 1.54–2.13] vs. 1.34 [95% CI 1.16–1.54] in non‐DKD; Pinteraction < 0.001). Compared to basal‐only regimens, premixed and basal‐bolus regimens had similar HbA1c reductions but were independently associated with increased odds of hypoglycaemia (1.65 [95% CI 1.45–1.88] and 1.88 [95% CI 1.58–2.23], respectively). Conclusions In this Asian population, there were varying patterns of insulin regimens with suboptimal glycaemic control, despite relatively high TDDs, which were influenced by gender, DKD, and YOD status.

This randomized clinical trial examines the use of a web portal combined with a physician-and-nurse care team approach in improving patient involvement and treatment outcomes for type 2 diabetes and diabetic kidney disease.