Investigation of Injector Usability following a Switch from NovoPen 300 to FlexPen

The present study examined whether quality of life (QOL) in type 2 diabetic patients is improved by switching from NovoPen 300O(cartridge injector) to FlexPenO(FLX) (prefilled injector). A selfadministered questionnaire survey was conducted for 105 outpatients with type 2 diabetes in our hospital at approximately one month after switching from a cartridge injector to FLX. Before this study, all patients had used a cartridge injector for more than three months or as many. Combining "very good" and "good" responses, almost all items were assessed to be favorable by more than 60% of patients regarding the usability of FLX in comparison with a cartridge injector. In particular, 79% and 73% of patients favorably assessed "ease of reading unit numbers" and "ease of adjusting dosage", respectively. In addition, 80.6% of patients answered that they became accustomed to using FLX "very quickly" after switching. On the contrary, 38% of patients negatively assessed "ease of pushing the injection button", and some disadvantages were identified. Overall, switching from a cartridge injector to FLX was smoothly achieved with some degree of improvement in patient QOL.