The Economic Burden of Insulin Injection-Induced Lipohypertophy. Role of Education: The ISTERP-3 Study

Introduction

The history of insulin-induced skin lipohypertrophy (LH) runs parallel to that of insulin's 100 years, and an average of 47% of insulin-treated patients still suffer from it today. The metabolic and economic effects of LH are significant, with hypoglycemia being the most striking. The objective of the study was to perform a 52-week follow-up of 713 insulin-treated patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and LH to detect any differences in the occurrence of hypoglycemic events (HYPOs) and related healthcare costs as well as in LH rates and injection habits between an intensive education intervention group (IG) and control group (CG) provided with a single educational session at the starting point.

Methods

All participants were trained in accurately self-monitoring blood glucose and recording all HYPOs for 6 months, which allowed baseline recordings before they were randomized into the IG, comprising 395 insulin-treated subjects undergoing repeated, structured multimodal education on correct injection techniques as a longstanding behavioral rehabilitation strategy, and the CG, comprising 318 subjects receiving the same structured, multimodal educational session, but only initially.

Results

Changes in LH rate and size and in performance were large in the IG and only slight and transient in the CG. A striking difference in the rate of decrease of HYPOs was also apparent between groups. Indeed, estimated costs of health interventions for severe and symptomatic HYPOs, which were on the order of €70,000 and €9300, respectively, in the two groups at baseline decreased by 5.9 times and 13.7 times, respectively, at the end of follow-up in the IG and by only approximately half in the CG. Full details of the changes occurring as a result of intensive education are provided in the text.

Conclusions

The effect of only initial education in the CG was not significant, thus providing evidence of the virtual worthlessness of a single training session on injection techniques, typical of worldwide daily clinical practice, and easily explaining the extremely high prevalence of LH in insulin-treated patients. Conversely, highly positive effects on LH prevalence and size as well as costs expected from decreased HYPO rate were obtained in the IG. To our knowledge, ours is the first 18-month randomized trial in the field. If our experimental model were to be used as an effective, longstanding behavioral rehabilitation strategy and therefore adapted to real-world settings universally, LH prevalence and costs related to their clinical consequences would be drastically reduced. However, only with a strong, relentless commitment of universities, scientific societies, and patient associations can we achieve this ambitious goal, which would provide great institutional savings and improved quality of life for people with diabetes.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12325-022-02105-5.

The Durability of an Intensive, Structured Education-Based Rehabilitation Protocol for Best Insulin Injection Practice: The ISTERP-2 Study

INTRODUCTION

Studies on the durability of an intensive, structured education protocol on best insulin injection practice are missing for people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The aim of this study was to assess the durability of an intensive, structured education-based rehabilitation protocol on best insulin injection practice in well-trained subjects from our previous intensive, multimedia intervention study registered as the ISTERP-1 study. A total of 158 subjects with T2DM from the well-trained group of the 6-month-long ISTERP-1 study, all of whom had successfully attained lower glucose levels compared to baseline levels with lower daily insulin doses and with less frequent and severe hypoglycemic episodes, participated in the present investigation involving an additional 6-month follow-up period, called the ISTERP-2 study.

METHODS

Participants were randomized into an intervention group and a control group, depending on whether they were provided or not provided with further education refresher courses for 6 months. At the end of the 6 months, the two groups were compared in terms of injection habits, daily insulin dose requirement, number of severe or symptomatic hypoglycemic events, and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels.

RESULTS

Despite being virtually superimposable at baseline, the two groups behaved quite differently during the follow-up. The within-group analysis of observed parameters showed that the subjects in the intervention group maintained and even improved the good behavioral results learned during the ISTERP-1 study by further reducing both the rate of injection technique errors (p < 0.001) and size of lipohypertrophic lesions at injection sites (p < 0.02). Conversely, those in the control group progressively abandoned best practice, except for the use of ice-cold insulin and, consequently, had significantly higher HbA1c levels and daily insulin dose requirements at the end of the follow-up than at baseline (p < 0.05). In addition, as expected from all the above, the rate of hypoglycemic episodes also decreased in the intervention group (p < 0.05), resulting in a significant difference between groups after 6 months (p < 0.02).

CONCLUSION

Our data provide evidence that intensive, structured education refresher courses have no outstanding durability, so that repeated refresher courses, at least at 6-month intervals, are needed to have positive effects on people with T2DM, contributing not only to prevention but also to long-term rehabilitation.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Trial Registration no. 118 bis/15.04.2018.

Role of Structured Education in Reducing Lypodistrophy and its Metabolic Complications in Insulin-Treated People with Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized Multicenter Case-Control Study

INTRODUCTION

It is essential to use the correct injection technique (IT) to avoid skin complications such as lipohypertrophy (LH), local inflammation, bruising, and consequent repeated unexplained hypoglycemia episodes (hypos) as well as high HbA1c (glycated hemoglobin) levels, glycemic variability (GV), and insulin doses. Structured education plays a prominent role in injection technique improvement. The aim was to assess the ability of structured education to reduce (i) GV and hypos, (ii) HbA1c levels, (iii) insulin daily doses, and (iv) overall healthcare-related costs in outpatients with T2DM who were erroneously injecting insulin into LH.

METHODS

318 patients aged 19-75 years who had been diagnosed with T2DM for at least 5 years, were being treated with insulin, were routinely followed by a private network of healthcare centers, and who had easily seen and palpable LH nodules were included in the study. At the beginning of the 6-month run-in period (T-6), all patients were trained to perform structured self-monitoring of blood glucose and to monitor symptomatic and severe hypos (SyHs and SeHs, respectively). After that (at T0), the patients were randomly and equally divided into an intervention group who received appropriate IT education (IG) and a control group (CG), and were followed up for six months (until T+6). Healthcare cost calculations (including resource utilization, loss of productivity, and more) were carried out based on the average NHS reimbursement price list.

RESULTS

Baseline characteristics were the same for both groups. During follow-up, the intra-LH injection rate for the CG progressively decreased to 59.9% (p < 0.001), a much smaller decrease than seen for the IG (1.9%, p < 0.001). Only the IG presented significant decreases in HbA1c (8.2 ± 1.2% vs. 6.2 ± 0.9%; p < 0.01), GV (247 ± 61 mg/dl vs. 142 ± 31 mg/dl; p < 0.01), insulin requirement (- 20.7%, p < 0.001), and SeH and SyH prevalence (which dropped dramatically from 16.4 to 0.6% and from 83.7 to 7.6%, respectively; p < 0.001). In the IG group only, costs-including those due to the reduced insulin requirement-decreased significantly, especially those relating to SeHs and SyHs, which dropped to €25.8 and €602.5, respectively (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Within a 6-month observation period, intensive structured education yielded consistently improved metabolic results and led to sharp decreases in the hypo rate and the insulin requirement. These improvements resulted in a parallel drop in overall healthcare costs, representing a tremendous economic advantage for the NHS. These positive results should encourage institutions to resolve the apparently intractable problem of LH by financially incentivizing healthcare teams to provide patients with intensive structured education on proper injection technique.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Trial registration no. 118/15.04.2018, approved by the Scientific and Ethics Committee of Campania University "Luigi Vanvitelli," Naples, Italy, and by the institutional review board (IRB Min. no. 9926 dated 05.05.2018).

Bruising: A Neglected, Though Patient-Relevant Complication of Insulin Injections Coming to Light from a Real-Life Nationwide Survey

INTRODUCTION

Despite the availability of sophisticated devices and suitable recommendations on how to best perform insulin injections, lipohypertrophy (LH) and bruising (BR) frequently occur as a consequence of improper injection technique.

AIM

The purpose of this nationwide survey was to check literature-reported LH risk factors or consequences for any association with BR METHOD: This was a cross-sectional, observational, multicenter study based on the identification of skin lesions at all patient-reported insulin injection sites in 790 subjects with diabetes. General and injection habit-related elements were investigated as possible BR risk factors.

RESULTS

While confirming the close relationship existing between LH and a full series of factors including missed injection site rotation, needle reuse, long-standing insulin treatment, frequent hypoglycemic events (hypos), and great glycemic variability (GV), the observed data could find no such association with BR, which anyhow came with high HbA1c levels, missed injection site rotation, and long-standing insulin treatment.

CONCLUSION

BR most likely depends on the patient's habit of pressing the injection pen hard onto the skin. Despite being worrisome and affecting quality of life, BR seems to represent a preliminary stage of LH but does not affect the rate of hypos and GV.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

207/19.09.2017.