Behandlung des Diabetes mellitus Typ 2

Impact of information technology on the therapy of type-1 diabetes: a case study of children and adolescents in Germany

Being able to manage and adjust insulin doses is a key part of managing type-1 diabetes. Children and adolescents with type-1 diabetes mellitus often have serious difficulties with this dosage adjustment. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the impact of using novel mobile, web and communication technologies in assisting their therapy and treatment. A trial was conducted in the north-eastern part of Germany to evaluate the impact of the "Mobil Diab", a mobile diabetes management system, on the clinical outcome. 68 subjects aged between 8 and 18 years, divided randomly into control and intervention groups, were included into the study. Metrics such as changes in the quality of metabolic control, changes in psychological parameters, usability and acceptance of the technology were used for evaluation purpose. Metabolic control was mainly assessed by the mean HbAlc. Analysis showed a good acceptance of the proposed system. An overall improvement in mean levels of HbA1c was observed, however further studies will be conducted to prove evidence of the weight and BMI improvements. Moreover, initial indications of positive impact on the improvement in psychological parameters were presumed based on the result of the conducted study. The system appeared to be an efficient and time saving tool in diabetes management.

Treatment persistence, hypoglycaemia and clinical outcomes in type 2 diabetes patients with dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors and sulphonylureas: a primary care database analysis

AIMS

To investigate therapy persistence, frequency of hypoglycaemia and macrovascular outcomes among type 2 diabetes patients with dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors (DPP-4) and sulphonylureas (SU).

METHODS

Data from 19,184 DPP-4 (mean age: 64 years; 56% males) and 31,110 SU users (69 years; 51%) with new prescriptions (index date), without additional antidiabetics except metformin, in 1201 general practises in Germany were analysed. Therapy discontinuation (prescription gap >90 days), hypoglycaemia [International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10)] and macrovascular outcomes (ICD-10) (2-year follow-up) were compared adjusting for age, sex, diabetes duration, metformin, previous hypoglycaemia, health insurance, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, antihypertensives, lipid-lowering and antithrombotic drugs, microvascular complications and Charlson co-morbidity score using logistic or Cox regression models.

RESULTS

Two years after index date, DDP-4 (non-persistence: 39%) were associated with a lower risk of discontinuation compared to SU (49%) [adjusted hazard ratio (HR): 0.74; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.71-0.76]. Hypoglycaemias (≥1) were documented in 0.18% patients with DPP-4 and in 1.00% with SU [odds ratio (OR): 0.21; 95%CI: 0.08-0.57]. Hypoglycaemias were significantly associated with incident macrovascular complications (HR: 1.6; 95% CI: 1.1-2.2). Risk of macrovascular events was 26% lower in DPP-4 than in SU users.

CONCLUSIONS

Lack of persistence with antidiabetic therapy is frequently found in primary care patients. DPP-4 was associated with lower therapy discontinuation and a fivefold reduced frequency of patients with hypoglycaemia compared to SU. The low absolute numbers of hypoglycaemias are most likely due to the fact that only severe events were documented. DPP-4 treatment was associated with reduced incidence of macrovascular events relative to SU in type 2 diabetes patients in primary care practises.