Efficacy and safety of insulin lispro in geriatric patients with type 2 diabetes: a retrospective analysis of seven randomized controlled clinical trials

Background and Aims Glycemic control in geriatric patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) remains clinically challenging. The objective of this study was to compare the safety and efficacy of insulin lispro in patients ≥65 years (geriatric) to those <65 years (non-geriatric), using a meta-analysis of randomized controlled clinical trials (RCT). Methods This is a retrospective analysis of predefined endpoints from an integrated database of seven RCTs of T2DM patients treated with insulin lispro. The primary efficacy measure tested the non-inferiority of insulin lispro (geriatric vs. non-geriatric; non-inferiority margin 0.4 %) in terms of hemoglobin A 1c (HbA 1c ) change from baseline to Month 3 ( N = 1,525), with change from baseline to Month 6 as a supportive analysis ( N = 885). Changes in HbA 1c from baseline were evaluated with an analysis of covariance model. Secondary measures included incidence and rate of hypoglycemia, and incidence of cardiovascular events. Results Mean change in HbA 1c from baseline to Month 3 was similar for geriatric (−0.97 %) and non-geriatric patients (−1.05 %); least-square (LS) mean difference (95 % CI) was 0.02 % (−0.11, 0.15 %; p = 0.756). Similar results were observed in patients treated up to Month 6; LS mean difference (95 % CI) was 0.07 % (−0.12, 0.26 %; p = 0.490). Decrease in HbA 1c from baseline to Months 3 and 6 was non-inferior in geriatric compared with non-geriatric patients. There were no significant differences in the incidence and the rate of hypoglycemia, incidence of cardiovascular events, or other serious adverse events including malignancy, post-baseline between the two cohorts. Conclusion Key measures of efficacy and safety in geriatric patients with T2DM were not significantly different from non-geriatric patients when utilizing insulin lispro. Insulin lispro may be considered a safe and efficacious therapeutic option for the management of T2DM in geriatric patients.