Insulin is the treatment of choice for diabetes care in the hospital. There is some debate regarding the efficacy and safety of once-daily versus twice-daily insulin glargine in the hospital, particularly in the critically ill population.
The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of insulin glargine administered as a once-daily versus twice-daily regimen in the noncritically ill population.
A retrospective chart review was conducted from 1 June 2020 to 31 May 2021. Inclusion criteria were age ≥18 years and on a regimen of either once-daily or twice-daily insulin glargine for ≥72 hours during the specified time frame. The primary end point was a comparison of the number of days with all blood glucose measurements within the range of 70–180 mg/dL throughout a 24-hour period. Secondary end points included the number of hyperglycemic (>180 mg/dL) and hypoglycemic (<70 mg/dL) events that occurred in each study group.
Group 1 included 101 individuals who received once-daily dosing, and group 2 included 103 individuals who received twice-daily dosing. Baseline characteristics were similar between the groups except for a higher BMI at admission (P = 0.01) and a higher pre-admission A1C (P = 0.02) in group 2. No differences were found for the primary end point (P = 0.5) or for hypoglycemic (P = 0.6) or hyperglycemic (P = 0.7) events.
There were no significant differences in efficacy or safety between once-daily and twice-daily insulin glargine in the noncritically ill population. A larger prospective study could confirm these results.
