[Therapy objectives and daily practice--to which extent are blood sugar target values accessible in daily practice?]. / Therapierichtlinien und Praxisalltag--Sind die Blutzucker-Zielwerte im Praxisalltag erreichbar?

ABSTRACT

The healthcare sector is characterized at present by increasingly ambitious therapeutic objectives and rising healthcare costs. The aim of the Swiss study was to explore ways of achieving these therapeutic objectives in the present healthcare environment via the use of cost-effective antidiabetic agents. With a therapeutic regimen based on gliclazide, it was possible to reduce fasting blood glucose levels to below 7.0 mol/l in 70% of the 94 type 2 diabetics included in the study. Fasting blood glucose levels returned to normal in 80% of the women taking part of the study; the normalization rate was significantly higher in this group than in the study population as a whole. The target HbA1c -value was attained in 7% of both the patient group receiving gliclazide monotherapy and the group receiving gliclazide in combination with metformin. Weight reduction was observed in all the treatment groups. Some 86% of the patients experienced an improvement in life quality as a result of the more effective management of their diabetes. The tolerability of the treatment was very high. A total of two episodes of mild symptomatic hypoglycemia were recorded. The per diem costs of gliclazide-based treatment are in the range of 1-2 Swiss francs.