New Global Survey Reveals Over One in Three Patients Fail to Take Insulin as Prescribed

STOCKHOLM, Sept. 21 /PRNewswire/ — More than one in
three diabetes patients skip doses or fail to take their insulin as
prescribed, stating that they have done so on average three times
in the last month, and 77 percent of physicians estimate that in
reality this number could be as high as six doses*, according to
the Global Attitudes of Patients and Physicians in Insulin Therapy
(GAPP™) survey, released today by Novo Nordisk.

The global survey, conducted in eight countries among almost
3,000 respondents, also showed that 88 percent of physicians report
that there are a significant proportion of patients still not
reaching blood glucose targets, and four in 10 people with diabetes
say they struggle to effectively control their blood sugar. These
results are in line with previous research which has shown that
globally less than half of people with diabetes reach an optimal
level of health and quality of life.

“The GAPP™ survey was designed to uncover the challenges
patients and physicians are facing in obtaining effective outcomes
in insulin therapy and it appears that busy lifestyles and
difficulty in adhering to prescribed regimens are key contributing
factors to poor glycemic control,” says Professor Luigi Meneghini,
associate director at the Diabetes Research Institute, University
of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Florida. He continues: “These
results are consistent across countries and it is encouraging to
see that physicians understand and empathize with the issues people
with diabetes face.”

Busy lives make it hard to comply with prescribed
regimens

Change in normal routines, being too busy or simply forgetting
to take the insulin are the main reasons cited by both patients and
physicians for patients missing insulin doses.

More than half of physicians agree that their patients find it
hard to comply with their regimens, particularly managing the
number of injections and strict time constra

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