Model-Based Tool for Personalized Adjustment of Basal Insulin Supply in Patients With Intensified Conventional Insulin Therapy

Abstract

Background: The decisive factor in successful intensive insulin therapy is the ability to deliver need-based-adjusted nutrition-independent insulin dosages at the closest possible approximation to the physiological insulin level. Because this basal insulin requirement is strongly influenced by the patient’s lifestyle, its subtlety is of great importance. This challenge is very different between patients with type 1 diabetes and those with insulin-dependent type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, it is more difficult to finetune a basal insulin dosage with intensified conventional insulin therapy (ICT), due to delayed insulin delivery, compared to insulin pump therapy, which provides continuous delivery of small doses of exclusively short-acting insulin. In all cases, the goal is to achieve an optimal basal delivery rate. Method: We hypothesized that this goal could be achieved with a modeling tool that determined the optimal basal insulin supply based on the patient’s anamnestic data and monitored glucose values. This type of modeling tool has been used in health insurance programs in Germany to improve insulin control in patients that receive ICT. Results: Our retrospective data analysis showed that this modeling tool provided a significant improvement in metabolic control, significant reductions in HbA1c and Q scores, and improved time-in-range values, with reduced daily insulin levels. Conclusion: The model-based basal rate test could provide additional data of the actual effect of the basal insulin adjustment in intensified insulin treated diabetes to the physician or treatment team.