A Pan-European and Canadian prospective survey to evaluate patient satisfaction with the SoloSTAR insulin injection device in type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
OBJECTIVE
This study evaluated patient satisfaction with SoloSTAR® (sanofi-aventis), a prefilled insulin pen device for injection of insulin glargine or insulin glulisine.


METHODS
This was a 6-8-week multicenter (n = 652), observational, prospective Pan-European and Canadian registry study in patients with diabetes mellitus (n = 6542) who recently switched to or started treatment with insulin glargine and/or insulin glulisine using SoloSTAR or were insulin naïve. At the baseline visit, patients were asked to evaluate their satisfaction with their previous device, if applicable. After 6-8 weeks of SoloSTAR use, patients were asked to rate their satisfaction.


RESULTS
Overall, 6481 patients (mean age 54 years, 48.7% male, 72% type 2 diabetes) were analyzed in this study. Of these, 4995 (77.1%) patients had used insulin before the study and 1641 (32.9%) and 3395 (68.0%) patients had previously used prefilled and/or reusable pens, respectively. During the study, SoloSTAR was used to administer insulin glargine and/or insulin glulisine by 97.3% and 36.0% of patients, respectively (both: 27.0%). Most patients rated SoloSTAR as "excellent/good" for ease of use (97.9%), learning to use (98.3%), selecting the dose (97.6%), and reading the dose (95.1%). Most patients rated ease of use (88.4%) and injecting a dose (84.5%) with SoloSTAR as "much easier/easier" versus their previous pen. Overall, 98% planned to continue using SoloSTAR. No safety concerns were reported.


CONCLUSIONS
This European and Canadian survey shows that SoloSTAR was well accepted in this large patient population. Most patients preferred SoloSTAR to their previous pen and planned to continue SoloSTAR use.
University of Medicine, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. nhancu@umfcluj.ro
Nicolae
N
Hancu
Leszek
L
Czupryniak
Elisabeth
E
Genestin
Harald
H
Sourij
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002170:Canada; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000295:instrumentation*; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous / Q000295:instrumentation; D007328:Insulin / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011446:Prospective Studies
D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents; D007328:Insulin