OBJECTIVES: Studies suggest that premixed insulin analogues may improve the balance between glycaemic control and hypoglycaemia compared with human premixed insulin in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients. This study aimed to observe prescription patterns of premixed insulin analogues compared to human premixed insulin among T2D patients. METHODS: Data for T2D patients starting premixed insulin in the period 2004–2006 were extracted from the Dutch PHARMO database. Patients were categorized into insulin naïve and prior insulin users. The proportion of patients changing treatment (discontinuing, adding fast-acting insulin or switching treatment) within one year was determined. Data was analyzed using Chi-Square tests for categorical data and t-tests for continuous data. RESULTS: The study included 3530 patients initiated on premixed insulin, of which 2324 (65.8%) were insulin naïve. Overall, 2134 (60.5%) started on analogues; the proportion of prescribed analogue insulin was greater among prior insulin users (812 of 1206 = 67.3%) vs. naïve users (1322 of 2324 = 56.9%). Patient characteristics did not differ between human insulin and analogue users, except from baseline HbA1c: in the group of prior users (1206 / 34.2%) , a significant difference in baseline HbA1c was observed between those using human premixed insulin (8.5%) and premixed analogue (8.0%, p<0.001). Within one year, 44.1% of human premixed users and 33.5% of premixed analogue users changed treatment. Among human premixed users 20.1% discontinued treatment (230 days), 6.5% added fast-acting insulin to their therapy (114 days), and 17.6% switched treatment (143 days); among premixed analogue users 14.9% discontinued treatment (245 days), 5.8% added fast-acting insulin (137 days), and 12.9% switched treatment (155 days). CONCLUSIONS: Premixed insulin analogues were more frequently prescribed by Dutch physicians than human premixed insulin. Users of premixed insulin analogues neither discontinued nor switched therapy as frequently as human premixed users, suggesting that premixed analogues gave a more sustained and satisfactory result.