Understanding Reasons for Treatment Discontinuation, Attitudes and Education Needs Among People Who Discontinue Type 2 Diabetes Treatment: Results from an Online Patient Survey in the USA and UK

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) requires long-term treatment to achieve and maintain glycaemic control; however, up to 50% of people with T2DM discontinue treatment by 1 year. It is therefore important to understand the patient perspective of therapeutic adherence and persistence.

An online questionnaire was presented to people with T2DM in the USA and UK on PatientLive^®, a platform of Carenity, an online patient community. Those who discontinued at least one T2DM treatment within the last 6 months answered open-ended questions aimed to assess the reasons for discontinuation, how discontinuation could have been prevented, and what would have improved the experience with the discontinued treatment. Thematic qualitative analysis was performed on respondents’ answers to these questions.

Oral antidiabetics were the most commonly discontinued treatments (93/161), followed by insulin (40/161) and glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (13/161). Main reasons for treatment discontinuation overall were side effects (57/161), mostly gastrointestinal side effects and weight gain. The second most reported reason was drug efficacy issues (42/161). Key factors stated to prevent discontinuation were an improved care pathway (45/161) and more efficacious treatments with fewer side effects (41/161). In the USA, treatment cost played an important role in discontinuation (14/89) and discontinuation prevention (12/89). More information about T2DM and associated treatments (56/161), help with T2DM management (24/161), and increased and informative patient–physician interaction (12/161) would have been helpful for many respondents in both countries, while some patients noted that no additional information would have been useful to improve their understanding and experience with their T2DM treatment (64/161).

These results emphasise the need for focused medical education and improved communication to enhance patient experience and prevent treatment discontinuation. Understanding of attributes preferred by people with T2DM can help improve therapeutic adherence and outcomes with current medications, and guide development of future therapies.