Long-Term Effectiveness of Liraglutide for Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes in a Real-Life Setting: A 24-Month, Multicenter, Non-interventional, Retrospective Study

The aim of the study was to evaluate whether the reduction in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) observed in clinical trials with liraglutide in type 2 diabetes (T2D) could be attained in routine clinical practice. ReaL was a multicenter, non-interventional, observational, retrospective, longitudinal study on the effectiveness of liraglutide, a human glucagon-like peptide-1 analog, in individuals with T2D treated in daily practice in Italy. Between 26 March and 16 November 2015, data were taken from clinical records of patients aged >= 18 years with treatment follow-up data of up to 24 months and who received their first prescription of liraglutide in 2011. A total of 1723 patients were included in the analysis. At baseline, mean age was 58.9 years, duration of diabetes was 9.6 years, and HbA1c was 8.3%. At 12 months, 36.1% of patients were prescribed the maximum 1.8 mg dose; 43.5% [95% confidence interval (CI): 40.9; 46.2] of patients attained the primary outcome of a reduction in HbA1c of >= 1% point at 12 months. At 24 months, 40.9% (95% CI 38.1; 43.7) of patients had attained the HbA1c target of <= 7%. Additionally, body weight significantly decreased by 3.4 kg (95% CI - 3.6; - 3.1, p < 0.0001). In this observational study conducted in routine clinical practice for up to 2 years, treatment with liraglutide improved HbA1c and reduced body weight in a similar fashion to that observed under randomized clinical trial conditions. The data support the use of liraglutide as an effective treatment for T2D in clinical practice. Novo Nordisk S.p.A. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier, NCT02255266.