Improved glycaemic control by switching from insulin NPH to insulin glargine: a retrospective observational study

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of patients switching from NPH to glargine

	Type 1	Type 2
n (%)	304 (43.4)	397 (56.6)
% male	47.4	52.4
Age (years)*	34.8 ± 13.2	48.2 ± 13.8
Weight (kg)	76.6 ± 14.7	82.9 ± 16.7
Baseline HbA_1c*†	8.8 ± 1.5	8.9 ± 1.4
Duration of diabetes (years) ‡	13.4 ± 10.0	10.0 ± 8.6
Number of co-morbidities*§	1.7 ± 1.3	1.9 ± 1.3
Proportion of patients receiving OAD(s) (%)	2	22
OAD per patient before starting insulin*¶	0.0 ± 0.0	0.2 ± 0.4
Proportion of patients receiving bolus doses (%)
At any point in prior 12 months	97	91
In prior 3 months	79	80
Hypoglycaemia episodes in a 3 month period*\|\|
No. episodes	36	40
Mean no. episodes per patient	0.12	0.10

OAD = oral antidiabetic drugs; HbA_1c = glycated haemoglobin. Data are mean ± SD unless indicated.
*Significant variables investigated in multivariate analysis.
†Data missing for 30 patients with type 1 diabetes and 39 patients with type 2 diabetes.
‡Data missing for 3 patients with type 1 diabetes and 8 patients with type 2 diabetes.
§Includes myocardial infarction, stroke, peripheral vascular disease, neuropathy, nephropathy, and retinopathy. Data available for 57 patients with type 1 diabetes and 76 patients with type 2 diabetes.
¶Number of oral diabetic treatments (e.g. metformin, sulfonylureas) prescribed prior to commencing insulin. Data missing for 100 patients with type 2 diabetes.
||Number of hypoglycaemic episodes reported during the 3 month period prior to switch. Hypoglycaemic episodes were reported in 30 patients with type 1 diabetes and 33 patients with type 2 diabetes.