OBJECTIVES: To investigate baseline characteristics of patients receiving ≥50 or <50 dose steps (DS; 1 DS = 1 U insulin degludec + 0.036 mg liraglutide) of IDegLira at six months follow-up in the EXTRA study of IDegLira in a real-world setting.

METHODS: This European, multicentre, retrospective chart review included 611 adults with type 2 diabetes, who started IDegLira ≥6 months before data collection. The analysis included 566 patients with HbA measurements at follow-up. Patients were grouped according to baseline regimen ± oral antidiabetic drugs: non-injectable therapies, glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA), free combination of insulin (basal/prandial/premix) + GLP-1RA, basal insulin or multiple daily injections of insulin (MDI). This descriptive analysis compares the baseline characteristics of patients reaching ≥50 vs <50 DS of IDegLira at follow-up.

RESULTS: At six months follow-up, 62 patients (11%) were receiving ≥50 DS IDegLira. Of these, eight (13%) had initiated or continued prandial insulin. Baseline regimen was insulin + GLP-1RA in free combination (n=31 [50%]), MDI (n=15 [24%]), basal insulin (n=8 [13%]), non-injectable therapies (n=4 [6%]) and GLP-1RA (n=4 [6%]). The main difference in baseline characteristics between patients receiving ≥50 DS and <50 DS IDegLira at follow-up were IDegLira starting dose (38.7 vs 20.0 DS, respectively), and mean total daily insulin dose (68 vs 46 DS [overall]; 59 vs 40 DS [free combination of basal insulin + GLP-1RA]; 94 vs 63 DS [MDI]; 64 vs 29 DS [basal insulin]), with more marginal differences in body mass index (34.8 vs 36.2 kg/m) and HbA (8.4 vs 8.7%).

CONCLUSIONS: In real-world clinical practice, patients with T2D who reached ≥50 DS IDegLira at six months follow-up often had a high total daily insulin dose and received multiple daily injections of insulin but had similar baseline demographic characteristics compared with patients receiving <50 DS IDegLira at follow-up.