METHODS: Telephonic interviews were conducted using a pre-validated interview guide among community pharmacists. Purposive sampling was used to ensure heterogeneity of participants in terms of gender, age, and position in the pharmacy. The interview was conducted until a point where no new information was obtained. Interview data were thematically analyzed.
RESULTS: The analysis identified nine themes organized into four domains. The results revealed that pharmacists have positive perceptions of the safe disposal of medicines. Pharmacists mentioned that medicine returns to service in community pharmacies are not common due to a lack of facilities in the management of unwanted, expired, and returned medicines. As such pharmacists have suggested a few ways to minimize medicinal wastage.
CONCLUSIONS: Respondents aimed to minimize medicines wastage (unused medicines) in order to minimize loss of revenue. Respondents did not usually accept returned medicines due to the operational costs of safe disposal. Disposal of unused medicines was undertaken by centralizing the stocks at an organization facility before being disposed of by outsourced waste management companies.
METHODOLOGY: ARISE, an open-label, multicenter, non-interventional, prospective study was conducted between August 2019 and December 2020. Adult Malaysian patients with T2DM who were enrolled from 14 sites received IDegAsp as per the local label for 26 weeks. The primary endpoint was change in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels from baseline to end of study (EOS).
RESULTS: Of the 182 patients included in the full analysis set, 159 (87.4%) completed the study. From baseline to EOS, HbA1c (estimated difference [ED]: -1.3% [95% CI: -1.61 to -0.90]) and fasting plasma glucose levels (ED: -1.8 mmol/L [95% CI: -2.49 to -1.13]) were significantly reduced (p<0.0001). The patient-reported reduced hypoglycemic episodes (overall and nocturnal) during treatment. Overall, 37 adverse events were observed in 23 (12.6%) patients.
CONCLUSION: Switching or initiating IDegAsp treatment resulted in significant improvements in glycemic control and a reduction in hypoglycemic episodes.