Survey Says: Your Thoughts in 2017

In 2017, we offered weekly survey questions on topics ranging from standard tests, to new drugs, to opinions on CGMs, to personal exercise habits – and you answered. Here are the survey questions that drew the most response this year.

What would you like your A1c to be, regardless of your health? (This question is a favorite of our Publisher Steve Freed, and clearly of DIC readers as well: it had the highest number of responses this year, by a considerable margin.)

7% A1c: 8%

6% A1c: 20%

5% A1c: 56%

4% A1c: 12%

Questions on the basics of treatment – diagnosing prediabetes, diet, exercise, and when to prescribe metformin — were another popular category.

Would you treat a patient with an A1c of 5.7-5.9%, who has diabetes in their family history and is a few pounds overweight with elevated cholesterol, with metformin along with diet and exercise, or just diet and exercise to get started?

Just diet and exercise: 59%

Diet, exercise, and metformin: 40%

Which class of drugs would you prefer for a person with an A1c of 5.6%?

Just diet and exercise: 76%

GLP-1: 4%

Metformin: 20%

At what A1c level would you recommend the use of metformin?

A1c 5.6%: 10%

A1c 5.7-5.9%: 28%

A1c 6.0%: 16%

A1c 6.1-6.2%: 6%

A1c 6.3-6.4%: 6%

A1c 6.5-7.0%: 33%

Which test do you use to determine if a patient has prediabetes?

Fasting blood sugar: 27%

A1c: 46%

OGTT: 24%

Random blood sugar: 3%

What percent of your prediabetes patients are on metformin?

0% of patients: 4%

10% of patients: 18%

25% of patients: 28%

50% of patients: 20%

75% of patients: 30%

Overall, our respondents indicated positive experiences with & opinions of SGLT-2 inhibitor drugs.

Which new drug class have you seen the best results with in lowering A1c’s?

DPP-4s: 13%

GLP-1s: 13%

SGLT-2s: 68%

Other: 5%

For a patient newly diagnosed with type 2 and an elevated A1c of 7-8%, would you consider an SGLT-2 drug as a second treatment option added to metformin if they are not at goal on metformin?

Yes: 67%

Likely: 15%

No: 17%

CGMs were a huge topic of conversation in 2017; DIC readers’ opinions on their impact  are mixed.

Do you believe that glucose monitors will be a thing of the past as continuous glucose monitors (CGM) become less expensive and more accurate?

Yes: 39%

No: 39%

Not sure: 23%

And finally, many of you were eager to share your experience — or lack thereof — with Editor Dave Joffe’s favorite exercise, riding a bike.  Results were, shall we say, all over the map.

When was the last time you rode a bike?

Hours: 19%

Days: 19%

Weeks: 2%

Months: 19%

Years: 14%

Decades: 17%

Never: 10%

Thank you to our wonderful readers for all their contributions to making DIC a success in 2017!