Treatment Compliance with Fixed-Dose Combination of Vildagliptin/Metformin in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Inadequately Controlled with Metformin Monotherapy: A 24-Week Observational Study

Objective. To evaluate the differences in treatment compliance with vildagliptin/metformin fixed-dose versus free-dose combination therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Greece. Design. Adult patients with T2DM, inadequately controlled with metformin monotherapy, (850 mg bid), participated in this 24-week, multicenter, observational study. Patients were enrolled in two cohorts: vildagliptin/metformin fixed-dose combination (group A) and vildagliptin metformin free-dose combination (group B). Results. 659 patients were enrolled, 360 were male, with mean BMI 30.1, mean T2DM duration 59.6 months, and mean HbA1c at baseline 8%; 366 patients were assigned to group A and 293 to group B; data for 3 patients was missing. In group A, 98.9% of patients were compliant with their treatment compared to 84.6% of group B. The odds ratio for compliance in group A versus B was (OR) 18.9 (95% CI: 6.2, 57.7; P<0.001). In group A mean HbA1c decreased from 8.1% at baseline to 6.9% (P<0.001) at the study end and from 7.9% to 6.8% (P<0.001) in group B. Conclusions. Patients in group A were more compliant than patients in group B. These results are in accordance with international literature suggesting that fixed-dose combination therapies lead to increased compliance to treatment

The Cost of Managing Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Greece: A Retrospective Analysis of 10-Year Patient Level Data “The HERCULES Study”

Objective. This study aimed to estimate the mean annual cost of treating type 2 diabetes mellitus patients (T2DM) including complications and comorbidities in Greece. Design. A noninterventional retrospective study was based on patient level data analysis (bottom-up approach) from medical records, with at least 10-year-follow-up data. Results. The total annual cost per patient for managing diabetes in Greece was estimated at € 7,111 and was, statistically significantly, higher for patients with inadequate glycemic control (Hba1c>7%) versus patients with adequate control (Hba1c=7%) (€ 7,783 versus € 6,366, resp.;   P=0.017). This was mainly attributed to difference in CV hospitalizations between groups 14/111 versus 4/100, respectively, OR=3.46 (95% CI: 1.10–10.9) for inadequately controlled patients. The largest component of cost was management of comorbidities, accounting for 48% of costs, and pharmaceutical treatment at 35.9% while only 14.9% was attributed to diabetes treatment per se. Obese men and patients with poor education are the groups with higher treatment costs. Conclusions. This is the first study to capture all cost components and the real burden of diabetes in Greece. Comorbidities were found to account for almost half of total cost, significantly higher in nonoptimally controlled diabetes patients