Satisfaction with Treatment in Type 2 Diabetes Patients Requiring Insulin Treatment in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Abstract

Objective

To assess different dimensions of treatment satisfaction in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) receiving insulin therapy.

Study Design

Cross-sectional study. We included 183 patients with T2DM followed by diabetes specialists in an ambulatory setting: 93 treated with neutral protamine Hagedorn insulin (NPH) and 90 with insulin glargine (IG). We used a Spanish version of the Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire (DTSQ) for Argentina.

Results

Overall treatment satisfaction was 30.04 (SD 5.40) for a maximum score of 36. The lowest score observed was for the satisfaction item “Flexibility of treatment” (4.7 out of 6, SD 1.27), and the highest score for the item “Recommending treatment to others” (5.39 out of 6, SD 1.23). In patients treated with IG, the overall treatment satisfaction score was 30.56 (SD 4.43); and 29.64 (SD 6.13) for those receiving NPH, not reaching a statistically significant difference. Perception of hypoglycemia was infrequent, with a mean score of 1.82 out of 6 (SD 1.62). For hyperglycemia, the mean score was 2.62 out of 6 (SD 1.54). In both cases, we found no difference between patients treated with IG and those treated with NPH insulin.

Conclusion

This is the first study describing patient satisfaction with treatment in T2DM patients in Argentina. We have found levels of treatment satisfaction similar or greater to those described in developed countries. We expect that the results of this study may encourage physicians not to delay the initiation of insulin therapy in poorly controlled patients.