title: Healthcare professional and patient assessment of a new prefilled insulin pen versus two widely available prefilled insulin pens for ease of use, teaching and learning.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  FlexTouch * (FT) is a new prefilled insulin pen with no push-button extension at any set dose and a low activation force that is designed to improve ease of use and insulin administration. This paper reports the results of two usability studies assessing perceptions of FT compared with KwikPen † (KP)and SoloStar ‡ (SS) among healthcare professionals (HCPs; both physicians and nurses) and people with diabetes (both insulin pen-experienced and insulin pen-naïve).
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were randomly assigned to start with FT or KP in one study and FT or SS in the other. Participants performed injections at different doses (20, 40 and 60 International Units [IU] in the FT vs. KP study or 20, 40 and 80 IU in the FT vs. SS study) into a foam cushion before answering questions on ease of use, teaching and learning, confidence and preference.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 59 people with diabetes and 61 HCPs took part in the FT vs. SS study, and 79 people with diabetes and 81 HCPs took part in the FT vs. KP study. Considerably more patients and HCPs rated FT as very/fairly easy to inject with than KP or SS, particularly at the maximum dose (≥80% vs. ≤38% and ≤23%, respectively), and more were very/rather confident in the ability to manage daily insulin injections with FT than KP or SS. Overall, FT was rated significantly higher for ease of teaching and learning to use than KP or SS (all p < 0.001 vs. FT), and was preferred for teaching and learning compared with KP or SS (≥39% vs. ≤4% and ≤6%, respectively). More patients and HCPs would recommend FT (≥95%) than KP (≤72%) or SS (≤71%). The same pattern was generally seen across physicians, nurses, insulin pen-experienced and pen-naïve participants.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings suggest that devices such as FT are easy to use and can be prescribed with relatively few training needs, which may improve ease of insulin initiation, increase pen use, and ultimately improve treatment adherence. A limitation of the usability questionnaire used in this study is that it did not assess the factors that influence preference. Further analyses could be conducted to determine the factors that appeal to different users.
authors: York Hospital, York, ME 03909, USA. dnadeaumd@gmail.com
authors: Daniel A
authors: DA
authors: Nadeau
authors: Carlos
authors: C
authors: Campos
authors: Marcus
authors: M
authors: Niemeyer
authors: Timothy
authors: T
authors: Bailey
mesh_terms: D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology; D004864:Equipment and Supplies / Q000600:supply & distribution; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D007267:Injections / Q000295:instrumentation; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D007328:Insulin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D007332:Insulin Infusion Systems; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010361:Patients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D013594:Syringes / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000600:supply & distribution; D013663:Teaching
chemical_list: D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents; D007328:Insulin