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Lifestyle modification reduces medication cost in type 2 diabetes
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In adults with type 2 diabetes, a lifestyle modification program combining high exercise volume, restrictive diet and education was effective in reducing the cost and number of pills taken per day, according to study findings published in BMJ Open.
Frédéric Dutheil, MD, PhD, of the faculty of health, School of Exercise Science, Australian Catholic University, and colleagues evaluated 29 adults (13 men; mean age, 59.3 years; mean BMI, 34.5 kg/m2) with type 2 diabetes who participated in a 3-week residential program that combined high exercise volume (15-20 hours per week), restrictive diet (-500 kcal per day) and education to determine the effect of the program on the cost of routine medications. Follow-up was conducted for 1 year beginning at the start of the program.
At baseline, blood pressure medications were prescribed for 83% of participants, and 66% were taking lipid-lowering drugs.
The 1-year intervention was completed by 26 participants. At the end of follow-up, participants had mean reductions in blood glucose of 22%, HbA1c 9%, systolic BP 1% and diastolic BP 2%.
At baseline, participants consumed a mean 7.56 pills per day for a mean routine medication cost of 1,352.6. More than half of the participants (54%) ceased or decreased their medication use at 1 year whereas 19% increased or initiated new drugs (P = .02). At 1 year, the number of pills taken per day decreased by 1.3 (P < .001). At the end of follow-up, the estimated decrease in total cost was 100 per patient per year.
“In a small sample of [type 2 diabetes] patients, reducing the long-term cost of global routine medication and number of pills could be effective following a 3-week lifestyle residential [program] combining high exercise volume, restrictive diet and education,” the researchers wrote. “The only factor correlated with this decreased medication cost was the glycemic control in the absence of weight change. Implementing such a program could be an efficient use of health care resource. To maintain this lifestyle education in the long term, [patients] may need the support of health-related institutions specialized in [type 2 diabetes] patients’ management.” – by Amber Cox
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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