Initiating Insulin Therapy in Group Sessions

Initiation of insulin therapy requires considerable time and effort for patients and healthcare providers. One potentially cost-effective approach is to initiate insulin in group sessions, rather than individually.

This European study included 121 patients with type 2 diabetes who were beginning once-daily glargine insulin because of inadequate control on oral agents (mean hemoglobin A_1c, 8.7%). Patients were randomized to either five individual or five group sessions (group size, 4–8 patients) during a 26-week period. The individual and group sessions involved the same study personnel and instructional approach (which included self-titration of insulin). Patients in both study arms received considerable telephone support between visits.

Afte…