Over the past few weeks we have been looking at your colleagues' responses to questions about GLP-1, including mechanisms, interactions, dosing and effectiveness. Over the next two weeks we will examine some of your opinions on starting doses and selecting patients....
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We decided to start by looking at your prescribing habits and who would be best to start on GLP-1 therapy.
AACE has indicated in their guidelines that the use of a GLP-1 Analog is indicated first line and when we put the question to our readers, those who had an opinion felt that they were unlikely to recommend GLP-1s as monotherapy. We noted with interest that the prescribers, NP's and Physicians, were the least likely to recommend first line. In comparison, when we looked at the use of GLP-1 analogs as add on therapy, the NP's and Physicians were anxious to prescribe, with 80% of physicians and 75% of NP's likely to use these important medications.
Most of our respondents felt that they would be likely to use GLP-1 Analog therapy if it meant that patients might be able to reduce the complexity of their medication and NP's were 100% in agreement that using a GLP-1 Analog in complex regimens was a great idea. This is especially interesting when you consider that the idea of using an injectable is important to a majority of the respondents.
Although the risk of hypoglycemia is very low due to the glucose regulating effect of GLP-1 analogs, I was especially surprised by the large number of all respondents who would avoid using GLP-1 therapy because of the perceived risk of hypoglycemia.
All agreed that if a patient is motivated, they would be more likely to use GLP-1 therapy but most respondents did not accurately describe the benefits even though they were familiar with them.
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