Gregory Brill

Among patients with type 2 diabetes, insulin intensification to achieve glycemic targets occurs less often than clinically indicated. Barriers to intensification are not well understood. We present patients’ baseline characteristics from MOSAIc, a study investigating patient-, physician-, and healthcare environment-based factors affecting insulin intensification and subsequent health outcomes. MOSAIc is a longitudinal, observational study following patients’ diabetes care in 18 countries: United Arab Emirates (UAE), Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States. Eligible patients are age ≥18, have type 2 diabetes, and have used insulin for ≥3 months with/without other antidiabetic medications. Extensive baseline demographic, clinical, and psychosocial data are collected at baseline and regular intervals during the 24-month follow-up. We conducted descriptive analyses of baseline data. Four thousand three hundred forty one patients met eligibility criteria. Patients received their type 2 diabetes diagnosis 12 ± 8 years prior to baseline visit, yet patients in developing countries were younger than in developed countries (e.g., UAE, 55 ± 10; Germany = 70 ± 10). Saudi Arabians had the highest HbA1c values (9.0 ± 2.2) and Germany (7.5 ± 1.4) among the lowest. Most patients in 5 (28 %) of the 18 countries did not use an oral antidiabetic drug. Over half of patients in fourteen (78 %) countries exclusively used basal insulin; most Indian and Chinese patients exclusively used mixed insulin. MOSAIc’s baseline data highlight differences in patient characteristics across countries. These patterns, along with physician and healthcare environment differences, may contribute to the likelihood of insulin intensification and subsequent clinical outcomes.

Cigarette smoking can make managing chronic diseases more difficult. For instance, in patients with certain respiratory conditions, smoking increases the risk of acute exacerbation, can worsen disease control, and may limit the effectiveness of inhaled corticosteroids.¹ Similarly, by raising blood pressure, smoking can make it challenging to effectively control hypertension and may increase the risk of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease.² Smoking can also increase the risk of serious adverse drug events. Oral contraceptive (OC) users older than 35 years who smoke have a 9-fold higher risk of myocardial infarction and venous thromboembolism compared with nonsmokers.^3,4