Diabetes Care 30:1364-1369, 2007 DOI: 10.2337/dc06-1357 © 2007 by the American Diabetes Association
Initiate Insulin by Aggressive Titration and Education (INITIATE)A randomized study to compare initiation of insulin combination therapy in type 2 diabetic patients individually and in groups
1 University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland Address correspondence and reprint requests to Hannele Yki-Järvinen, MD, FRCP, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 700, Room C426B, FIN-00029 HUCH, Helsinki, Finland. E-mail: ykijarvi{at}cc.helsinki.fi
OBJECTIVEInsulin is often postponed for years because initiation is time-consuming. We sought to compare initiation of insulin individually and in groups with respect to change in A1C and several other parameters in type 2 diabetic patients. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSA randomized (1:1), multicenter, two-arm, parallel design study with a recruiting period of up to 14 weeks and a 24-week treatment period. Either in groups of 48 or individually, using the same personnel and education program, 121 insulin-naive type 2 diabetic patients with an A1C of 7.012.0% were randomized to initiate bedtime insulin glargine. The patients visited the treatment center before and at the time of insulin initiation and at 6, 12, and 24 weeks. Patients self-adjusted the insulin dose to achieve a fasting plasma glucose 4.05.5 mmol/l. RESULTSAt 24 weeks, mean ± SE A1C had decreased from 8.7 ± 0.2 to 6.9 ± 0.1% in those treated individually and from 8.8 ± 0.2 to 6.8 ± 0.1% in those in groups (not significant [NS]). Insulin doses averaged 62 ± 5 IU and 56 ± 5 IU at 24 weeks (NS), respectively. The frequency of hypoglycemia was similar. The total time (visits and phone calls) spent in initiating insulin in the patients in groups (2.2 ± 0.1 h) was 48% less than in those treated individually (4.2 ± 0.2 h). Diabetes treatment satisfaction improved significantly in both sets of patients. CONCLUSIONSSimilar glycemic control and treatment satisfaction can be achieved by initiating insulin in groups and individually. Starting insulin in groups takes one-half as much time as individual initiation.
Abbreviations: ALT, alanine aminotransferase DTSQ, Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire FPG, fasting plasma glucose
Despite new guidelines with strict glycemic targets, a recent survey of 157,000 type 2 diabetic patients indicated that over two-thirds have A1C concentrations >6.5% (1). In the 2005 guidelines by the International Diabetes Federation, insulin therapy is recommended when A1C exceeds 7.5% despite other therapies (2). This is because large trials have shown that it is feasible to achieve an A1C target of 7.0% using insulin combination therapy regimens (36). However, reluctance to initiate insulin is still common, in part because of lack of time and resources. There is thus a need for innovative strategies to facilitate the transition to insulin therapy.
Simple addition of basal insulin to existing oral agents is an attractive way to start insulin therapy as it involves only one injection of insulin, the dose of which can be adjusted based on measurement of fasting plasma glucose (FPG) (4,79). In studies where an A1C of Historically, insulin therapy has been started individually in patients with type 2 diabetes. Considering limited resources, the large numbers of patients, and that patients with type 2 diabetes by definition "survive without insulin," it would seem worthwhile to establish whether insulin can be started in groups. The present study was designed to test in a randomized fashion in poorly controlled insulin-naive patients with type 2 diabetes whether this is the case.
Study design This was a multicenter, open, randomized, parallel-group study to compare initiation of insulin in groups versus individually in insulin-naive type 2 diabetic patients who were poorly controlled on oral hypoglycemic agents. The study consisted of a 3- to 14-week run-in phase and a 24-week treatment phase. It was performed in Finland, Sweden, the U.K., and the Netherlands in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and good clinical practice (GCP) as described by Note for Guidance CPMP/ICH/135/95. Approval by institutional ethics committees was obtained for each site. All patients provided written informed consent before study entry. The study design was investigator-initiated (H.Y.). Sanofi-aventis provided funding and helped in conducting the study according to GCP guidelines (S.L.) but did not participate in data analysis, interpretation of the data, or writing the manuscript.
Patients
Screening visit at 14 to 3 weeks (individual) After visit 1, eligible patients were randomized to either an individual or a group education program. Randomization was performed centrally, using the minimization of differences method (11). The following variables were included (relative weight is given in parentheses): age (1x), gender (0.5x), BMI (1.5x), A1C (1.5x), duration of diabetes (0.5x), previous oral agents (1x), history of macrovascular disease (0.5x), and education (1x).
Preinitiation visit at 2 weeks (group or individual)
Initiation of insulin visit at 0 weeks (group or individual)
Phone calls at weeks 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 20
Six-week visit (group or individual)
Twelve-week visit (group or individual)
Twenty-fourweek visit (group or individual, end of study)
Analytical procedures
Statistical analyses Secondary objectives included comparison of the two educational methods with respect to the following: 1) time spent by a nurse on education, physician's time, and number and duration of phone calls; 2) change in the concentrations of serum HDL and LDL cholesterol and serum triglycerides; 3) change in body weight and blood pressure; 4) change in FPG; 5) insulin dose at study end, 6) change in subject's treatment satisfaction; and 7) incidence of hypoglycemic episodes, as previously defined (9), during the study.
All statistical analyses were performed on an intent-to-treat basis, defined as randomized patients who received at least one injection of insulin. Statistical testing was performed at a two-sided significance level of
Patient characteristics A total of 128 patients were eligible at randomization visit. Seven patients dropped out during the recruitment phase while waiting for start of insulin therapy (metastasis of papillary thyroid carcinoma, retinal neovascularization, and unwillingness to continue: n = 2; group formation took too long: n = 1; other: n = 2). A total of 121 patients started insulin therapy and comprised the intention-to-treat population. Five dropped out from the individual education arm (poor compliance, n = 2; hypoglycemia, n = 1; protocol violation, n = 1; new adverse event, n = 1). No patients dropped out from the group education arm. The mean group size was 5.3 individuals. Of scheduled visits, 95.6 and 90.3% were attended in the individual and the group education arms, respectively (NS). Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics were similar between the treatment groups (Table 1).
Glycemic control A1C decreased from 8.65 ± 0.18% at 0 weeks to 6.89 ± 0.14% at 24 weeks in patients individually treated (P < 0.001) and from 8.79 ± 0.20% to 6.81 ± 0.12% in those in the group education arm (P < 0.001), with no difference between the two arms (Fig. 1).
FPG averaged 9.0 ± 0.1, 7.1 ± 0.1, and 6.3 ± 0.1 mmol/l in those individually treated and 8.7 ± 0.1, 6.9 ± 0.1 and 6.4 ± 0.1 mmol/l in the group treatment patients during weeks 07, 815, and 1623. The cumulative percentage of patients achieving target (weekly mean FPG within the target range 4.05.5 mmol/l) was 47% by week 12 and 66% by study end in the group treatment arm. The corresponding fractions were 41 and 70% in the individualized treatment arm (NS between arms).
Hypoglycemia
Insulin dose
Body weight
Lipids, blood pressure, and liver enzymes Systolic (at 0 vs. 24 weeks, individual treatment 140 ± 2 vs. 142 ± 3 mmHg and group treatment 140 ± 2 vs. 142 ± 3 mmHg) and diastolic (at 0 vs. 24 weeks, individual treatment 83 ± 1 vs. 82 ± 1 mmHg and group treatment 85 ± 1 vs. 83 ± 1 mmHg) blood pressures remained unchanged. Serum ALT decreased highly significantly in both the individual and the group education arms (Fig. 1).
Treatment satisfaction and time spent on patient education The total time (scheduled and extra) over 24 weeks spent starting insulin was 48% lower in the group than in the individual education arm (Fig. 2). There was no correlation between class time or total time and the A1C achieved, the change in A1C, or the percentage of decrease in A1C (data not shown) within the educational arms.
Adverse events The incidence of adverse events considered not to be related to treatment was similar between groups: 31 patients (49%) in the individual and 28 patients (48%) in the group arms reported at least one adverse event. Most common were infections and musculoskeletal disorders, with no differences between the arms. There was one side effect considered to be related to treatment: one injection site reaction in the individual treatment arm. Four patients (group, n = 1; individual, n = 3) had serious adverse events during the course of the study. All serious adverse events recovered without sequelae.
The present study is to our knowledge the first attempt to compare, in a randomized fashion, initiation of insulin therapy by adding basal insulin to existing oral agents individually and in groups. We found that both education methods were equally effective with respect to improvement of glycemic control. There were also no differences in the time course of titration of the insulin doses, in symptomatic or biochemical hypoglycemia, or in treatment satisfaction. Individual initiation took twice the amount of the nurse educator's time compared with initiation of insulin in groups. Weight gain was slightly greater when insulin was started in groups compared with patients treated individually. We chose to start insulin therapy by adding basal insulin to existing oral agents, which mostly consisted of sulfonylureas combined with metformin. This regimen, compared with other options such as use of insulin mixtures or multiple insulin injection regimens, requires only one measurement of fasting glucose and one injection of insulin and is associated with less weight gain and hypoglycemia than multiple insulin injection regimens (58). Recommending only one fasting measurement for adjusting a single injection of insulin also facilitates interpretation of glucose values received by modem (9). One center did not use the modem but nevertheless managed to achieve good glycemic control in both education arms. We found use of the modem very helpful, as it allows immediate visualization of whether the FPG target has been reached. The modem also allowed accurate assessment of fasting hypoglycemia; however, symptomatic hypoglycemia is underestimated unless patients are strongly encouraged to also record hypoglycemia on a card. In keeping with this, we found almost twice the rate of confirmed hypoglycemia (episodes of FPG <4.0 mmol/l · patient1 · year1) than in the treat-to-target study but less symptomatic hypoglycemia (4). This could possibly be due to use of the modem, which allows accurate recording of all measured glucoses. The A1C achieved at the end of 24 weeks in the group education arm (6.8%) is to our knowledge the best glycemic control achieved in any insulin treatment study in established type 2 diabetes (46,9,1415). Compared with other studies, this cannot be attributed to differences in baseline BMI, glycemic control, duration of diabetes, lack of weight gain during insulin therapy, or choice of oral agents. We attribute the success to use of adequate titration of insulin doses and to not discontinuing the sulfonylurea. In the large treat-to-target study, where basal insulin was added to sulfonylurea and metformin combination therapy (4), FPG was higher than in the LANMET study (9), where only metformin was usedyet A1C was lower. Our patients were just as obese as those in the study of Riddle et al. (4) but used 5562 IU of insulin, while the insulin doses in the latter study were 4247 IU. Body weight increased by 3.7 kg in the group arm, which was 1.5 kg more than in the individual treatment arm. We have previously shown that for every 1% decrease in A1C, body weight increases by 2 kg (16). This increase reflects the net effects of reduction in calories lost in the urine and of changes in energy expenditure due to an increase in fat-free mass that accompanies weight gain, as well as a decrease in the energy consumed for glucose production (16). Since A1C decreased by 2% in both arms, one would have predicted a 4 kg weight gain in both arms, but this was only observed in the group arm. The difference in weight gain between the two educational arms suggests that the patients may have received more dietary advice during the individual education sessions than in the group. Treatment satisfaction improved similarly in both educational arms. While this implies that patients were equally satisfied with both educational methods, it is not possible to determine why treatment satisfaction improved. We have previously shown that treatment satisfaction improved with combination therapy compared with use of continued oral agents (7), suggesting that improved glycemic control rather than simply participating in a study improves general well-being. Of note, treatment satisfaction was similar, although participation in the group arm required more time of the patient than individual education. In conclusion, starting insulin in type 2 diabetes in groups gives as good glycemic control as individual initiation. Group and individual education also appear similar with respect to hypoglycemia, lipid changes, and insulin doses. Body weight increased more in the group education than in the individual education arm. Given years of delay in initiating insulin and the growing number of patients needing intensified treatment, we recommend initiation of insulin therapy using the simple principles of the present study in groups rather than individually because this saves considerable amount of time and resources. Although not all patients will be eligible for this method of education, we believe a substantial proportion of the diabetic population will be eligible.
This study was investigator initiated and supported by Sanofi-Aventis.
Published ahead of print at http://care.diabetesjournals.org on 23 March 2007. DOI: 10.2337/dc06-1357. Clinical trial reg. no. ISRTN09079822, clinicaltrials.gov. H.Y.-J. has acted as a consultant or speaker for Amylin, Astra-Zeneca, Aventis, Lilly, Merck, MSD, Pfizer, and Sanofi-Aventis and has received grant support for investigator-initiated trials from Astra-Zeneca, Aventis, Eli Lilly, Novartis, and Roche. M.D. has acted as a consultant and speaker for Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi-Aventis, and Eli Lilly and has received grants in support of investigator and internal trials from Servier, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, and Sanofi-Aventis. A table elsewhere in this issue shows conventional and Système International (SI) units and conversion factors for many substances. The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact. Received for publication November 6, 2006. Accepted for publication March 13, 2007.
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