An assessment of physician reasons for prescribing Insulin Lispro 200 units/ml in Germany

Abstract

Objective: To understand physicians’ reasons for prescribing Insulin Lispro 200 units/ml (IL200) and their experience with IL200 treatment in Germany. Methods: The survey consisted of 28 questions on physician’s profile, average IL200 patients’ characteristics and rationales for prescribing IL200. Questions were rated on a scale of 0 (‘not at all important’/‘strongly disagree’) to 4 (‘absolutely important’/‘strongly agree’). Results: The surveyed physicians had a mean (SD) experience of 18.1 (7.0) years managing diabetes, consulted an average of 226.8 patients with diabetes/month and prescribed IL200 to 56.1% of their patients on mealtime insulin (MTI). About 80.0% of IL200 patients had type 2 diabetes mellitus, were overweight/obese, and received >20 units/day of MTI. More than 70.0% of physicians rated patient’s insulin dose, pattern of self-measured glucose levels, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) (clinical); adherence, hypoglycemia knowledge, motivation to improve lifestyle, desire to reduce injection volume and emotional struggle with controlling HbA1c (behavioral) as ‘very important’/‘absolutely important’ factors when prescribing IL200. Conclusion: Physicians considered IL200 a promising treatment option that reduces the injection burden for patients on MTI. Physicians adopted a patient-centered perspective by aligning IL200 prescribing decisions with each patient’s medical needs and non-clinical preferences, with an aim to encourage treatment adherence through resorting to IL200’s advantageous attributes.