Glycaemic Control in People with Diabetes Starting Treatment with Fast-Acting Insulin Aspart: a US Database Study

This study investigated glycaemic control in individuals with type 1 (T1D) or type 2 diabetes (T2D) 6 months after initiating fast-acting insulin aspart (faster aspart) in a real-world setting.

This was a single-arm, observational study using extracted patient data from the IBM^® Explorys^® database (USA) for individuals with T1D or T2D initiating faster aspart (at least one prescription of faster aspart) in the study period 1 January 2018 to 27 October 2020. Clinical characteristics, including age, body mass index, and baseline HbA1c, were extracted, as well as recorded events of hypoglycaemia. The primary endpoint was the change in HbA1c from baseline to 6 months.

A total of 787 individuals were included; 36.6% of these individuals had T1D and 63.4% had T2D (of whom 46.9% were new users of rapid-acting insulin when initiating faster aspart [T2D new users] and 53.1% were switching from another rapid-acting insulin to faster aspart [T2D switchers]). For individuals with T1D, T2D new users, or T2D switchers, estimated mean change in HbA1c from baseline to 6 months was - 0.20% (95% CI - 0.53, 0.14; p  =  0.252), - 1.00% (95% CI -  1.34, -  0.67; p < 0.0001), and - 0.70% (95% CI - 1.06,  - 0.35; p = 0.0001), respectively. In the baseline HbA1c > 8.5% subgroup, there was a significant estimated decrease in HbA1c from baseline to 6 months in individuals with T1D (-  1.2% [95% CI - 1.80,  -  0.60]; p = 0.0001) or T2D (- 0.6% [95% CI - 0.92, -  0.35]; p <  0.0001). Event rates of hypoglycaemia after 12 months were 0.68, 0.38, and 0.59 events/year for individuals with T1D, T2D new users, and T2D switchers, respectively.

US IBM^® Explorys^® data demonstrated a clinically relevant reduction in HbA1c 6 months after initiating faster aspart treatment for individuals with T2D, but not T1D overall, although patients with baseline HbA1c > 8.5% had significant HbA1c reductions regardless of diabetes type.