title: Safety and effectiveness of insulin detemir in different age-groups in the a1chieve study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Diabetes therapy should balance glycemic control with risk of adverse events. This sub-analysis of the A1chieve study evaluated clinical safety and effectiveness of insulin detemir in different age-groups (≤40 years, >40-65 years, and >65 years) of insulin-experienced and insulin-naïve people with type 2 diabetes.
  
  
  METHODS
  A1chieve was an international, open-label, non-interventional, 24-week study in 66,726 people with type 2 diabetes starting/switching to therapy with biphasic insulin aspart 30, insulin detemir or insulin aspart (alone/in combination) in routine clinical practice. This sub-analysis evaluated clinical safety and effectiveness in patients starting/switching to insulin detemir (±oral glucose-lowering drugs).
  
  
  RESULTS
  In total, 15,241 patients were included in the sub-analysis. In all age-groups, the proportion of participants experiencing any, major or nocturnal hypoglycemia was significantly (all p < 0.05) reduced relative to baseline, except in insulin-naïve patients for any and nocturnal hypoglycemia, where there was a significant increase or no significant change in patients aged >65 years and >40-65 years, respectively, and no significant change in major hypoglycemia in insulin-naïve patients aged ≤40 years. Seven serious adverse drug reactions were reported. Body weight was significantly reduced in patients aged ≤40 years and >40-65 years and significantly increased in insulin-naïve patients aged >65 years at 24 weeks. At 24 weeks, glycated hemoglobin was reduced by 2.3%, 2.0%, and 1.8%, in the ≤40 years, >40-65 years, and >65 years age-groups, respectively (all p < 0.001). Fasting and post-prandial plasma glucose were significantly reduced and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) significantly improved across all patient cohorts (all p < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  After 24-week treatment with insulin detemir, all age-groups of insulin-experienced and insulin-naïve patients had significantly improved glycemic control and HRQoL. The proportion of patients experiencing hypoglycemia was reduced in all age-groups but unchanged in insulin-naïve patients aged >40-65 years and increased in insulin-naïve patients aged >65 years. The safety and effectiveness of insulin detemir may benefit all age-groups.
authors.affiliation: Internal Medicine, CHU Sétif, Sétif, Algeria.
authors.forename: Rachid
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Malek
authors.forename: Guillermo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gonzalez-Galvez
authors.forename: Nabil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: El Naggar
authors.forename: Siddharth
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: Vinay
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Prusty
authors.forename: Leon
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Litwak