Outcomes and Attributes Patients Value When Choosing Glucose-Lowering Medications: A Mixed-Methods Study

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posted on 2024-01-22, 19:29 authored by Elizabeth H. Golembiewski, Andrea E. Garcia Bautista, Eric Polley, Guillermo E. Umpierrez, Rodolfo J. Galindo, Juan P. Brito, Victor M. Montori, Janet P. Gockerman, Michael Tesulov, Bertina Labatte, Mindy M. Mickelson, Rozalina G. McCoy

This mixed-methods study sought to identify pharmacotherapy preferences among 40 noninsulin-treated adults with type 2 diabetes receiving care at two U.S. health care systems. Participants ranked by relative importance various health outcomes and medication attributes and then contextualized their rankings. Most participants ranked blindness (63%), death (60%), heart attack (48%), and heart failure (48%) as the most important health outcomes and glucose-lowering efficacy (68%) as the most important medication attribute, followed by oral administration (45%) and lack of gastrointestinal side effects (38%).

Key Points

· People with type 2 diabetes have highly heterogeneous goals, preferences, and priorities for glucose-lowering treatment regimens.

· In this study, most patients rated blindness and death as the health outcomes most important to avoid, and efficacy in lowering blood glucose and A1C levels was the medication attribute most frequently rated as very important.

· These findings underscore the value of engaging patients in discussions about their goals, preferences, and priorities for medication management of type 2 diabetes.