Reducing medications in Type 2 diabetes

New survey indicates 84% of patients would switch medication if it reduced pill burden.

A new survey of patients with Type 2 diabetes shows that more than three-quarters of them are taking medication to control their diabetes. Of this group, 84% would consider switching medication if it meant taking fewer tablets. Yet nearly half had never had any changes made to their medication, even though 35% had been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes for between 5 and 10 years, and 13% for more than 10 years.

The online survey of 100 people with Type 2 diabetes (carried out by TNS on behalf of Takeda UK) also found that half of all respondents could not correctly define hypoglycaemia, while 49% who had suffered hypoglycaemic-like symptoms had not reported them to their GP or practice diabetic nurse. Indeed, 14% of respondents claimed never to have heard the
term hypoglycaemia.

There are currently over 2.5 million people with diabetes in the UK1 and in this survey nearly 40% of patients took between 4 and 9+ tablets daily. As many as 41% of respondents stated they wished they could reduce the number of tablets they take daily. At least 16% of respondents were taking 4 tablets per day and 9% more than 6 tablets per day. In addition, 24% had concerns over possible drug side effects.

Fixed dose combination treatments reduce the pill burden of patients with Type 2 diabetes and have a low risk of hypoglycaemia, when given second-line as an alternative to a sulphonylurea. Poor concordance with treatment is an important consideration in the management of Type 2 diabetes, and simplifying oral treatment regimens to reduce pill burden may improve patient concordance2 as well as having the benefit of engaging patients with the ongoing management of their diabetes.

Patient confidence and concordance with treatment is also affected by fear of hypoglycaemia. Hypoglycaemia has a substantial clinical impact in terms of mortality, morbidity and quality of life. The cost implications of severe episodes − both direct hospital costs and indirect costs − are considerable: it is estimated that each hospital admission for severe hypoglycaemia costs around £1,000.