The Switch Study: Switching from BHI 30 Novolet® to BIAsp 30 Flexpen®: Clinical Observations from the Netherlands. Treatment Satisfaction when Switching from BHI 30 NovoLet® to BIAsp 30 FlexPen®

Aim An open label non-randomized observational study was performed to observe and investigate the process of switching from premixed human insulin 30/70 (BHI 30) in NovoLet® to biphasic insulin aspart 30/70 (BIAsp 30) in FlexPen® in an outpatient setting; in terms of insulin dose, efficacy, hypoglycemic episodes, quality of life (WHO-5) and treatment satisfaction (ITSQ; Insulin Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire). Methods Type 2 diabetic patients (aged ≥ 18 yrs) treated with BHI30 in NovoLet® who were switched to BIAsp 30 in FlexPen® were included in an open-labeled, multicenter, non-randomized, observational study. At baseline and 8 ± 2 weeks after switching to BIAsp 30 FlexPen® HbA1c, insulin dose, number of hypoglycemic events and quality of life were measured. Results A total of 196 patients (54.3% female, aged 64.8 ± 12 years) with type 2 diabetes completed the study. Total insulin dose remained stable 52.8 ± 24.9 units at baseline vs. 52.0 ± 25.6 units after 8 weeks of treatment, as did HbA1c, 7.7 ± 1.4% at baseline vs. 7.7% ± 1.4%. No weight change was reported (81.6 ± 16.6 kg vs. 81.5 ± 16.7 kg). With BIAsp 30, a significantly lower number of total hypoglycemic episodes were reported (127 compared to 188 with BHI 30, p < 0.001). Significance remained for the subclasses separately (daytime 142 vs. 98, p = 0.005; and nocturnal 46 vs. 29, p = 0.05). ITSQ results confirmed these findings: total score on ‘hypoglycemic’ subscale improved significantly from 78 ± 16.8 to 83 ± 16.0 (p = 0.009). The overall score improved significantly from 82.2 ± 14.6 to 85.5 ± 13.9 (p = 0.036). 85% percent of the patients were satisfied with the FlexPen® device and 89.1% wanted to continue treatment with FlexPen®. The WHO-5 scores after the final visit showed no general quality of life problems with average scores between 2.7 and 3.3. Conclusion The results of this study provided evidence that switching from BHI 30 NovoLet® to BIAsp 30 FlexPen® can be done easily on a unit by unit basis in daily practice in type 2 diabetic patients. After 8 weeks of treatment with BIAsp 30 there was a significant decrease in hypoglycemic episodes accompanied by a significant increase in treatment satisfaction.