title: Adherence to GLP-1 receptor agonist therapy administered by once-daily or once-weekly injection in patients with type 2 diabetes in Germany.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to compare 6-month adherence to therapy with exenatide once weekly (Bydureon(®)) vs liraglutide once daily (Victoza(®)) in patients with type 2 diabetes under primary care in Germany.
  
  
  METHODS
  A nationwide longitudinal prescription database (LRx), (between January 2011 and September 2014) was used to analyze adherence to therapy. The proportion of days covered (PDC) by prescription was used as a measure of adherence in the 6-month postindex period. Logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate the associations between glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist therapy adjusting for age, sex, and cotherapy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Therapy was initiated in 5,449 patients with exenatide once weekly (age: 59.7±11.8 years; 51.4% were male) and in 24,648 patients with liraglutide once daily (age: 59.4±11.4 years; 49.7% were male). The median PDC was 0.88 for exenatide once weekly and 0.77 for liraglutide once daily (P<0.05). Once-weekly exenatide was associated with significantly higher adherence. Odds ratio (95% confidence interval) for having a PDC of ≥0.80 was 1.78 (1.62-1.96) for exenatide once weekly compared with liraglutide once daily after adjusting for age, sex, and cotherapy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Adherence to treatment with exenatide once weekly was significantly increased compared to that with liraglutide once daily over 6 months in patients with type 2 diabetes.
authors.affiliation: Global Medicines Development, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Qiao
authors.affiliation: Global Medicines Development, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Mario Jnm
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Ouwens
authors.affiliation: Global Medicines Development, AstraZeneca, Gaithersburg, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Grandy
authors.affiliation: Global Medicines Development, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Kristina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Johnsson
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Medicine, Real-World Evidence Solutions, IMS Health, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Karel
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kostev
keywords: GLP-1 receptor agonists; adherence; type 2 diabetes