A Study on Insulin use, Prescription Pattern and its Regimens in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Achieving good glycemic control is of paramount importance in the reduction of diabetes mellitus associated morbidity and mortality. The role of insulin in the management of diabetes mellitus cannot be overemphasized and people with diabetes, use combinations of different types of insulin to better control and manage their condition. The objective of the present work was to evaluate prescribing pattern of insulin and its regimen with dosing frequency and their clinical characteristics.

A Prospective, observational clinical study was carried out in a tertiary care hospital. A total of 338 patients on various insulin regimens alone or in combination with oral drugs were enrolled and studied for 36 months.

The study explored that insulin use is more in males than in females, with a higher use of insulin among elderly patients and with a major incidence in the age group of > 60 years. Most of the study subjects have their normal body mass and few were overweight. The duration of diabetic patients who are on insulin is more between 0–5 years and less in above 15 years. Among the study population greater proportion were using insulin from past 5 years with more twice daily and thrice daily insulin dosing. Furthermore, Human Actrapid was the common human insulin used, followed by fixed dose combination.

The use of insulin analogues is very less which are more expensive than human insulin. The use of insulin is important to effectively control the disease process in patients with diabetes mellitus and insulin adherence has been especially proven to be associated with good long term metabolic control.