Improvement in medication compliance and glycemic control with voglibose oral disintegrating tablet

Good compliance with hypoglycemic therapy is important for diabetes treatment, since positive relationship between medication compliance and glycemic control has been reported. To improve medication compliance, the oral disintegrating tablet technology that facilitates drug administration without water has been employed in various drugs, including voglibose, an alpha glucosidase inhibitor. In the present survey, we investigated safety profile of voglibose oral disintegrating tablet (VODT), and whether treatment with VODT results in improvement of medication compliance and glycemic control. Patients with diabetes received VODT 0.6 or 0.9 mg/day for 12 weeks. Among 2,930 eligible patients, adverse drug reactions were observed in 3.6%, with the most common being abdominal distension, flatulence, diarrhea, and increased alanine aminotransferase levels. In 1,067 patients who received conventional voglibose tablet (CVT) prior to VODT, 53.1% reported that taking VODT was easier than taking CVT. Medication compliance was improved after switching to VODT in 28.4% of patients who missed taking tablets more than one time a week during CVT treatment. A significant decrease in HbA(1C) levels was observed in patients whose medication compliance was improved after switching to VODT (P = 0.033), but there was no significant reduction in HbA(1C) levels in patients whose medication compliance did not change. In conclusion, the present survey suggests that the safety profile of VODT is comparable with that of CVT, and switching from CVT to VODT has positive impact on medication compliance which may lead to an improvement in glycemic control.