Attitudes of patients and physicians to insulin therapy in Japan: an analysis of the Global Attitude of Patients and Physicians in Insulin Therapy study

ABSTRACTBackground: The barriers to insulin therapy perceived by Japanese patients with diabetes and their physicians are unclear.Research design and methods: We performed sub-analyses of the Global Attitude of Patients and Physicians in Insulin Therapy (GAPP™) study, which included 100 Japanese physicians (of 1250 participating physicians) and 150 Japanese patients (of 1530 patients) who participated in Internet surveys (physicians) or computer-assisted telephone surveys (patients) across eight countries in 2010. We compared the results of Japanese participants with those obtained for the other seven countries.Results: Overall, 44% of the Japanese patients reported omission or non-adherence to insulin, a greater value than that reported in other countries. Japanese physicians reported that non-adherence to insulin was driven by their patients’ lifestyles. A greater proportion of patients had a history of hypoglycemia in Japan than in other countries. Most of the physicians (94%) and patients (84%) in Jap...