The Effect of Early Response to GLP-1 RA Therapy on Long-Term Adherence and Persistence Among Type 2 Diabetes Patients in the United States.

Background: Treatment adherence and persistence are crucial to achieve glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Early response to a new therapy may lead to improved treatment adherence and associated outcomes.

Objective: To assess the effect of early response to glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) therapy, as indicated by reduced hemoglobin A1c (A1c) and body weight, on long-term adherence and persistence.

Methods: Adults aged ≥ 18 years with T2D initiated with GLP-1 RA therapy after January 1, 2010, were identified from the IBM Explorys Therapeutic Dataset. Patients were required to have health care utilization ≥ 6 months before and ≥ 18 months after the index prescription. Changes in A1c and body weight from baseline through 6 months were assessed for all patients; early response was defined by > 1% reduction in A1c and > 3% reduction in body weight within 3-6 months. Adherence (assessed as the proportion of days covered [PDC] ≥ 80%) and nonpersistence/discontinuation (indicated by a gap in therapy ≥ 60 days) over 18 months were evaluated among early responders versus nonresponders. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess the effect of early response to GLP-1 RA therapy on adherence and discontinuation over 18 months.

Results: Among 8,329 identified patients, 33.3% and 31.2% experienced early response as indicated by reductions in A1c > 1% point and in body weight > 3% from baseline, respectively. Significantly higher proportions ( < 0.001) of early responders in both reduced A1c and body weight were adherent over 18 months compared with patients without an early response (A1c: 45.0% vs. 37.1%; body weight: 43.3% vs. 38.0%). Significantly lower proportions ( < 0.001) of early responders discontinued over 18 months compared with patients without an early response (A1c: 61.4% vs. 67.9%; body weight: 61.9% vs. 67.5%). After controlling for baseline demographic and clinical characteristics including baseline weight, baseline A1c, oral antidiabetes drug use, insulin use, and the presence of comorbidity of diabetes, patients were more likely to be adherent over 18 months if they had reductions in A1c > 1% (OR = 1.59, 95% CI = 1.36-1.85) or body weight reduction > 3% (OR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.02-1.36) at 3-6 months compared with those without an early response. Similarly, the early responders had significantly lower likelihood of discontinuation compared with those without early response (A1c > 1%; OR = 0.62, 95% CI = 0.53-0.72; body weight > 3%; OR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.70-0.94).

Conclusions: Early response to GLP-1 RA therapy was associated with significantly increased adherence and reduced likelihood of discontinuation.

Disclosures: Funding to conduct this study was provided to IBM Watson Health by Novo Nordisk A/S. The analysis was conducted independently by IBM Watson Health. Novo Nordisk A/S and IBM Watson Health collaborated on study design and interpretation of results. At the time of this study, Durden and Laing were employed by IBM Watson Health and received funding from Novo Nordisk to conduct this study. Fowler is employed by IBM Watson Health. Panton and Mocevic were employed by Novo Nordisk while this study was conducted. A portion of these results were presented at the AMCP Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy Annual Meeting 2018; April 23-26, 2018; Boston, MA, where it was awarded with a bronze ribbon.