Background: The objective of this study was to assess feature preferences, patient acceptance, reliability, and safety of the new Lilly Humulin/Humalog 3.0 ml prefilled insulin pen in a clinical setting.
Material/methods: A total of 330 patients in Croatia with type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus who required at least one injection of insulin per day were treated with Humulin 30/70 or Humalog for 4 to 6 weeks using the new prefilled pen. Questionnaires concerning various aspects of the pen performance were administered at endpoint.
Results: The features of the Lilly 3.0 ml pen device ranked most highly by patients (% of excellent or good ratings) were cartridge visibility (93%), attaching/replacing needles (93%), ease of dose correction (92%), checking insulin flow (90%) and dialling of insulin dose (89%). Features of the pen device rated most highly by patients in comparison with the delivery systems used before the study and the percentage of patients rating those features as much better or better were ease of dose correction (74%), cartridge visibility (67%), audible dialing clicks (55%) and size of dose numbers (52%). Most respondents (78%) preferred single-unit versus two-unit dosage increments. The majority of patients rated the new prefilled pen as being more convenient and easier to use, and indicated that it represented a significant or modest an improvement over their previous insulin injection method.
Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that the new Lilly 3.0 ml prefilled pen is acceptable for patients who were previously using either reusable devices or the traditional syringe and vial.