Table 1.
Baseline Patient Demographics and Clinical Characteristics.
| Insulin-naïve patients |
Insulin-glargine-experienced patients |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristic | Vial initiators (n = 2930) | Pen initiators (n = 2930) | P value | Pen switchers (n = 998) | Vial continuers (n = 998) | P value |
| Women, n (%) | 1298 (44.3) | 1281 (43.7) | .6546 | 485 (48.5) | 499 (50.0) | .5308 |
| Age in years, mean (SD) | 74.6 (6.6) | 74.5 (6.5) | .5992 | 73.4 (6.34) | 73.6 (6.35) | .4313 |
| Charlson comorbidity index, mean (SD) | 1.29 (1.71) | 1.29 (1.74) | .9818 | 1.18 (1.61) | 1.18 (1.60) | 1.0000 |
| Comorbidity, n (%) | ||||||
| Hypertension | 1223 (41.7) | 1238 (42.2) | .6914 | 404 (40.4) | 402 (40.2) | .9273 |
| Hyperlipidemia | 513 (17.5) | 548 (18.7) | .2351 | 189 (18.9) | 195 (19.5) | .7333 |
| Congestive heart failure | 535 (18.2) | 516 (17.6) | .5177 | 147 (14.7) | 172 (17.2) | .1267 |
| Peripheral vascular disease | 304 (10.3) | 335 (11.4) | .1939 | 114 (11.4) | 115 (11.5) | .9440 |
| Myocardial infarction | 134 (4.5) | 147 (5.0) | .4267 | 27 (2.7) | 36 (3.6) | .2492 |
| Retinopathy | 239 (8.1) | 245 (8.3) | .7758 | 183 (18.3) | 203 (20.3) | .2570 |
| Neuropathy | 345 (11.7) | 342 (11.6) | .9030 | 168 (16.8) | 170 (17.0) | .9050 |
| Nephropathy | 136 (4.6) | 129 (4.4) | .6599 | 74 (7.4) | 70 (7.0) | .7293 |
| Mental illness | 239 (8.1) | 240 (8.1) | .9620 | 81 (8.1) | 94 (9.4) | .3036 |
| Antidiabetic drug usage | ||||||
| Number of OADs, n (SD) | 2.09 (0.87) | 2.08 (0.85) | .6830 | 0.89 (0.98) | 0.87 (0.94) | .6893 |
| Metformin | 1834 (62.5) | 1827 (62.3) | .8502 | 304 (30.4) | 308 (30.8) | .8460 |
| Sulfonylureas | 2301 (78.5) | 2302 (78.5) | .9746 | 277 (27.7) | 265 (26.5) | .5459 |
| Thiazolidinediones | 1094 (37.3) | 1070 (36.5) | .5159 | 173 (17.3) | 177 (17.7) | .8139 |
| Sitagliptin | 656 (22.3) | 657 (22.4) | .9750 | 81 (8.1) | 73 (7.3) | .5022 |
| GLP-1(exenatide) | 206 (7.0) | 208 (7.0) | .9188 | 46 (4.6) | 45 (4.5) | .9145 |
| Any insulin, n (%) | N/A | N/A | 998 (100) | |||
| Regular insulin | N/A | N/A | 54 (5.4%) | 54 (5.4%) | .1717 | |
| Basal insulin | N/A | N/A | 998 (100.0%) | 998 (100.0%) | ||
| Rapid acting insulin | N/A | N/A | 508 (50.9%) | 513 (51.4%) | .8228 | |
| DACON, U/day (SD) | 43.7 (31.2) | 45.8 (30.3) | .1277 | |||
| Hypoglycemia, n (%) | ||||||
| Any hypoglycemia | 134 (4.5) | 141 (4.8) | .6655 | 101 (10.1) | 100 (10.0) | .9407 |
| Inpatient/ED hypoglycemia | 69 (2.3) | 82 (2.7) | .2838 | 33 (3.3) | 30 (3.0) | .7009 |
| Number of any hypoglycemic events per patient, mean (SD) | 0.08 (0.55) | 0.12 (1.20) | .0922 | 0.22 (0.95) | 0.27 (1.23) | .3492 |
| Number of inpatient/ED hypoglycemic events per patient, mean (SD) | 0.03 (0.18) | 0.03 (0.21) | .2061 | 0.04 (0.21) | 0.05 (0.66) | .4916 |
| Health care utilization | ||||||
| Any hospitalization, n (%) | 994 (33.9) | 1018 (34.7) | .5091 | 190 (19.0) | 193 (19.3) | .8646 |
| Any diabetes-related hospitalization, n (%) | 496 (16.9) | 513 (17.5) | .5564 | 89 (8.9) | 94 (9.4) | .6982 |
| Any ED visit, n (%) | 1001 (34.1) | 1026 (35.0) | .4923 | 295 (29.5) | 167 (26.7) | .1635 |
| Any diabetes-related ED visit, n (%) | 480 (16.3) | 477 (16.2) | .9156 | 129 (12.9) | 119 (11.9) | .4974 |
| Number of hospitalizations, n (SD) | 0.39 (0.59) | 0.39 (0.57) | .9640 | 0.23 (0.51) | 0.23 (0.54) | .9321 |
| Number of diabetes-related hospitalizations, n (SD) | 0.18 (0.43) | 0.18 (0.41) | .9010 | 0.10 (0.36) | 0.10 (0.34) | .8979 |
| Cost, $, mean (SD) | ||||||
| Total cost | 14 289 (27 592) | 13 791 (26 035) | .4769 | 11 051 (15 376) | 11 273 (21 696) | .7924 |
| Total diabetes-related cost | 4636 (15 943) | 4543 (13 321) | .8092 | 3246 (6322) | 3287 (6823) | .8899 |
| Total Rx cost | 2451 (2120) | 2502 (2173) | .3551 | 3572 (2347) | 3494 (2979) | .5184 |
| Total diabetes-related Rx cost | 643 (622) | 646 (613) | .8575 | 1162 (798) | 1156 (828) | .8567 |
| Total diabetes-related Supply cost | 38 (105) | 39 (103) | .5412 | 101 (200) | 96 (205) | .6346 |
Abbreviations: DACON, daily average consumption; ED, emergency department; OADs, oral antidiabetic drugs.