PDB108 THE UNMET MEDICAL NEEDS IN CURRENT ANTIDIABETIC INJECTABLE THERAPY (AIT) IN CHINA: FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS (HCPS)

Abstract

This study aimed to understand HCP perceptions of AIT for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This is a part of the PURPOSE study (Patient, Nurse, and Physician Survey on Unmet Medical Needs of Injectable Diabetes Treatments), a cross-sectional survey conducted in 13 representative cities across China in 2019. 200 endocrinologists prescribing at least 10 prescriptions of AIT and 100 nurses providing AIT training in the past month were surveyed. Questionnaires focused on reasons for which patients rejected AIT, areas of AIT requiring improvement, factors influencing patient compliance, and HCP’s AIT training burden. The extent of influence of each factor on compliance was measured with a 5-point scale (1=no influence, 5=huge influence). Descriptive statistics were conducted using R software, version 3.5.2. 81.0% of endocrinologists had 10+ years of experience and 64.0% held deputy chief titles or above. 85.0% of nurses had 5+ years of experience. 97.0% of endocrinologists reported they had patients who refused to initiate AIT. Major concerns about AIT initiation included inconvenience of daily injection (68.5%), fear of injection (66.5%), and feelings that injection indicates serious disease status (63.0%). Injection site reactions, medical expenses, and inconvenience of drug portability/storage were considered the first three areas requiring improvement by endocrinologists (69.5%, 60.0%, 56.0%, respectively) and nurses (70.0%, 54.0%, 52.0%, respectively). The top three influential factors of compliance rated by endocrinologists were injection frequency (3.8), severity of diabetes (3.8), and injection training (3.8). Injection operation, side effects management, and pre-injection dose setting were considered the most time-consuming components in a typical AIT training. 97.1% of endocrinologists and 97.0% of nurses believed a more user-friendly product would reduce training burden. From a HCP’s perspective, AIT training and AIT with less injection frequency will help improve patient compliance. A more user-friendly AIT with less side effects would help reduce HCP’s training burden.