Table 1.
Clinical characteristics and injection habits of the CG and IG at enrollment
| Control group n = 319 |
Intervention group n = 395 |
|
|---|---|---|
| Male gender n (%) | 167 (52.35) | 211 (53.42) |
| Age (years) | 62 ± 14 | 61 ± 19 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 30.4 ± 7.21 | 30.72 ± 5.60 |
| HbA1c (%) | 8.32 ± 1.31 | 8.52 ± 1.10 |
| DM duration (years) | 12.51 ± 5.21 | 11.96 ± 7.5 |
| Injections/day (n) | 4 | 4 |
| Insulin treatment duration (years) | 6.91 ± 4.22 | 6.53 ± 4.41 |
| Daily insulin dose (IU/day) | 56 ± 12 | 58 ± 13 |
| HYPOs (% of patients affected) | 85.85 | 85.32 |
| Injection habits n (%) | ||
| Needle reuse (%) | 92.20 | 91.27 |
| Failure to rotate injection sites (%) | 94.31 | 93.61 |
| Cold insulin injection (%) | 72.58 | 72.70 |
| Waiting at end injection (%) | 14.13 | 13.18 |
| Leaking drop after injection (%) | 85.37 | 87.22 |
| Painful injection (%) | 10.32 | 9.98 |
| Injection into LH nodules (%) | 96.85 | 98.66 |
Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation (M ± SD) or frequencies (%). Daily insulin dose and % of subjects suffering from hypoglycemic episodes (HYPOs) were evaluated in the 6-month period before randomization (T−6/T0). No significant differences were found between groups
Painful injections are defined as those causing symptoms ranging from slight local discomfort to real pain