The role of insulin analogs in type 2 diabetes in the rural community

ABSTRACT

Objective: Type 2 diabetes is a progressive disease requiring constant monitoring of patients to ensure maintenance of glycemic goals and advancement of therapy when necessary. The challenges of treatment in rural areas may be different from those in urban areas. This review article will evaluate the barriers to treatment of type 2 diabetes and the role of insulin analogs in overcoming such barriers and in treating the disease, particularly with respect to rural communities.

Research design and methods: A literature review of English language articles in the Medline Database was conducted to identify published articles through April 2008. Search terms included rural, diabetes, insulin, treatment, and treatment challenges/barriers and were used either alone or in various combinations with one another. Articles were included if they pertained to rural communities in the United States. Barriers related to treatment of type 2 diabetes and the role of insulin analogs in treatment and in overcoming such barriers, were examined.

Results: Health-care providers and patients in rural areas face barriers both common to the general population and unique to the rural setting. Challenges include limited access to health care, lack of health-care resources, and lack of multidisciplinary staff.

Conclusions: A number of strategies exist, including simple, stepwise treatment algorithms for insulin therapy, to manage type 2 diabetes in rural populations effectively. Because this article focused on rural communities in the United States, barriers in other rural communities may not have been identified. Additionally, although Medline is one of the largest and most comprehensive databases of published medical literature, publications not in the Medline database have not been included in this analysis.

Key words: :

• Diabetes
• Insulin
• Rural
• Treatment
• Treatment barriers

Acknowledgement

Declaration of interest: This paper was supported by the sanofi-aventis U.S. Group. The author gratefully acknowledges the Embryon scientific staff who developed the first draft based on an approved outline. Funding for this service was provided by sanofi-aventis U.S. Group. The author states that he has no proprietary interest in any products mentioned in this article.