Level of Satisfaction Among Patients Using Insulin Administered by Pen vs Vial/Syringe. An Observational Prospective Study.

PURPOSE

To determine the satisfaction of patients with diabetes mellitus who used subcutaneous insulin application devices in Colombia.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

An observational prospective study of patients with diabetes mellitus receiving insulin treatment in Colombia. Sociodemographic, comorbidity and pharmacological data were taken from a drug dispensing database. Through telephone calls, satisfaction with application devices was evaluated with Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire status version (DTSQ-s). Satisfaction was considered high at a score ≥30 points. The change in the type of insulin delivery device (ie, from pen to vial/syringe, and from vial/syringe to pen) was evaluated during a 1-year follow-up.

RESULTS

A total of 382 patients from 75 cities were selected, with a median age of 66.0 years, and 56.3% were women, and 65.2% were treated with long-acting insulins. The mean DTSQ-s score was 26.6±5.3 points, and 38.7% presented high satisfaction, without statistically significant differences between pen and vial/syringe. A total of 18.8% changed the administration device, mainly those that came from Bogotá-Cundinamarca (OR:2.19; 95% CI:1.01-4.75), in concomitant treatment with other antidiabetic drugs (OR:2.28; 95% CI:1.00-5.22) and those who previously used insulin in vial/syringe (OR:33.90; 95% CI:11.88-96.74).

CONCLUSION

The participants had low satisfaction with the insulin delivery device. No statistically significant differences were found in satisfaction between those who received pen vs vial/syringe insulin, and patients using the latter had a high probability of switching to insulin pen.