Table 3.
Analyzed population: all insulin users versus all users of bitherapy or tritherapy
| All insulin users n = 270
|
All bi- or tritherapy users n = 443
|
P-value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | % | n | % | ||
| Age (mean, SD) | 59.14 | 10.86 | 60.27 | 9.32 | 0.1554 |
| Age at diagnosis | 44.6 | 11.95 | 49.53 | 10.39 | <0.0001 |
| Age at insulin initiation | 51.61 | 13.03 | – | – | N/A |
| Years diagnosed | 14.66 | 9.88 | 10.75 | 7.61 | <0.0001 |
| Sex | |||||
| Male | 166 | 61.48% | 310 | 69.98% | 0.0213 |
| Female | 104 | 38.52% | 133 | 30.02% | 0.0213 |
| Currently employed | 76 | 28.15% | 121 | 27.31% | 0.8096 |
| Household income | |||||
| <20,000€ | 88 | 32.59% | 97 | 21.90% | 0.0021 |
| 20,000€ to <50,000€ | 138 | 51.11% | 233 | 52.60% | 0.7006 |
| 50,000€ or more | 22 | 8.15% | 65 | 14.67% | 0.0061 |
| Decline to answer | 22 | 8.15% | 48 | 10.84% | 0.2281 |
| College education | 66 | 24.44% | 148 | 33.41% | 0.0096 |
| BMI | |||||
| Underweight | 0 | 0.00% | 1 | 0.23% | N/A |
| Normal weight | 40 | 14.81% | 45 | 10.16% | 0.0735 |
| Overweight | 86 | 31.85% | 177 | 39.95% | 0.0277 |
| Obese | 135 | 50.00% | 209 | 47.18% | 0.4651 |
| Decline to answer | 9 | 3.33% | 11 | 2.48% | 0.5197 |
| Health behaviors | |||||
| Currently drink | 190 | 70.37% | 336 | 75.85% | 0.1126 |
| Currently smoke | 47 | 17.41% | 75 | 16.93% | 0.8701 |
| Regularly exercise | 141 | 52.22% | 238 | 53.72% | 0.697 |
| Charlson comorbidity index (mean, SD) | 0.6 | 1.33 | 0.33 | 0.69 | 0.0017 |
| Comorbidities | |||||
| Depression | 36 | 13.33% | 50 | 11.29% | 0.4242 |
| Myocardial infarction | 23 | 8.52% | 20 | 4.51% | 0.0422 |
| Stroke | 12 | 4.44% | 10 | 2.26% | 0.1294 |
| TIA | 4 | 1.48% | 2 | 0.45% | 0.1995 |
| Congestive heart failure | 8 | 2.96% | 7 | 1.58% | 0.246 |
| Hypertension | 111 | 41.11% | 205 | 46.28% | 0.1771 |
| Angina | 27 | 10.00% | 50 | 11.29% | 0.5869 |
| Arrhythmia | 13 | 4.81% | 31 | 7.00% | 0.2208 |
| Prescribing physician | |||||
| PCP | 53 | 19.63% | 334 | 75.40% | <0.0001 |
| Endocrinologist/diabetologist | 210 | 77.78% | 107 | 24.15% | <0.0001 |
| Nurse practitioner/physician assistant | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | N/A |
| Other | 7 | 2.59% | 2 | 0.45% | 0.0361 |
| Agree/strongly agree to being afraid of needles | 24 | 8.89% | 47 | 10.61% | 0.4485 |
| Microvascular complications | |||||
| Macular edema | 43 | 15.93% | 14 | 3.16% | <0.0001 |
| Neuropathic pain | 53 | 19.63% | 33 | 7.45% | <0.0001 |
| Kidney damage | 28 | 10.37% | 11 | 2.48% | <0001 |
| End organ damage (2010, 2011 only) | 14 | 7.61% | 5 | 1.55% | 0.0038 |
| Foot ulcer | 14 | 5.19% | 16 | 3.61% | 0.3305 |
| At least one microvascular complication | 104 | 38.52% | 64 | 14.45% | <0.0001 |
| At least one complication (TIA, stroke, HA or microvascular complication) | 119 | 44.07% | 83 | 18.74% | <0.0001 |
| HbA1c (%) | |||||
| HbA1c >7 | 89 | 32.96% | 78 | 17.61% | <0.0001 |
| HbA1c (missing) | 94 | 34.81% | 228 | 51.47% | <0.0001 |
| Fasting glucose (mg/dl) | |||||
| Fasting glucose >130 | 42 | 15.56% | 45 | 10.16% | 0.0409 |
| Fasting glucose (missing) | 152 | 56.30% | 311 | 70.20% | 0.0002 |
| Satisfaction with treatment | |||||
| Very/extremely satisfied with treatment | 149 | 55.60% | 227 | 51.24% | 0.2592 |
| Very/extremely dissatisfied with treatment | 40 | 14.93% | 51 | 11.51% | 0.1991 |
| Morisky adherence* (2010, 2011 only) | |||||
| Compliant (MMAs = 0) | 152 | 82.61% | 233 | 72.36% | 0.0066 |
| Forget to take medication | 25 | 13.59% | 80 | 24.84% | 0.0014 |
| Careless about medication | 12 | 6.52% | 36 | 11.18% | 0.0667 |
| Stop when feeling better | 1 | 0.54% | 5 | 1.55% | 0.2508 |
| Stop when feeling worse | 5 | 2.72% | 16 | 4.97% | 0.1876 |
Notes:
*
Assessed using the MMAS. The MMAS includes four items (“do you ever forget to take your medicine?”; “are you careless at times about taking your medicine?”; “when you feel better do you sometimes stop taking your medicine?”; and “sometimes if you feel worse when you take your medicine, do you stop taking it?”). All items have a dichotomous yes/no response scale and are summed to form a total score (which varies from 0 to 4, with lower scores indicating greater adherence).
Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; MMAS, Morisky Medication Adherence Scale; SD, standard deviation; HA, heart attack; TIA, transient ischemic attack; PCP, primary care physician.