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Diabetes and other endocrine diseases research

We conduct research on treatment patterns, clinical outcomes, costs and utilization in diabetes and other endocrine diseases.

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Proven research expertise

Researchers on the Optum® HEOR Endocrine-Metabolic team have expertise in epidemiology, biostatistics, health services research, pharmacology and basic science.

Our team applies their expertise to design, execute, and interpret findings from health economics and outcomes studies of endocrine diseases and disorders of metabolism, such as diabetes.

Optum HEOR has published over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts in the diabetes research domain alone. In addition to diabetes, their work has spanned the spectrum of chronic disease including cardiovascular, renal, liver, respiratory diseases and osteoporosis.

Providing insight into chronic conditions

Diabetes

  • Adherence to new therapies such as SLGT-2 inhibitors and DPP-4 inhibitors
  • Early versus late treatment intensification
  • Loose pill versus fixed dose combination therapies
  • Real world assessment of HbA1c outcomes with injectable therapy
  • Burden of hypoglycemia

Gout

  • Patient characteristics associated with frequent flares
  • Economic implications of frequent flares
  • Real-world assessment of costs and utilization in patients initiating gout treatment

Other endocrine conditions and disorders of metabolism

  • Cystic fibrosis
  • Pancreatic enzyme insufficiency
  • Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)
  • Central precocious puberty
  • Hyper- and hypothyroidism
  • Obesity

Walker V, Hollahan D, Lazdins R, Seager C. Preferences for the NovoFine®32 gauge 6mm tip in the treatment of diabetes mellitus. Can J Clin Pharmacol. 2006;13(1):e170.

Lynch P, Riedel AA, Samant N, Fan Y, Peoples T, Levinson J, Lee SW. Resource utilization with insulin pump therapy for type 2 diabetes mellitus. Am J Manag Care. 2010;16(12):892-96.

Gonder JR, Walker VM, Barbeau M, Zaour N, Zachau BH, Hartje JR, Li R. Costs and quality of life in diabetic macular edema: Canadian burden of diabetic macular edema observational study (C-REALITY). J Ophthalmol. 2014;2014:939315.

Iglay K, Cartier S, Rosen VM, Zarotsky V, Rajpathak SN, Radican L, Tunceli K. Meta-analysis of studies examining medication adherence, persistence, and discontinuation of oral antihyperglycemic agents in type 2 diabetes. Curr Med Res Opin. 2015;31(7):1283-96.

Harley C, Mishra A, Cantor SE, Nelson M, Walker AM. A ‘real world’ analysis of persistence on and adherence to glipizide GITS, glipizide IR and glibenclamide in managed care among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.  Clin Drug Investig. 2002 Sep;22(9):575-84.

Hall J, Summers KH, Obenchain RL. Cost and utilization comparisons among propensity score-matched insulin lispro and regular insulin users. J Manag Care Pharm. 2003 May-Jun;9(3):263-68.

Shetty S, Secnik K, Oglesby AK. Relationship of glycemic control to total diabetes-related costs for managed care health plan members with type 2 diabetes. J Manag Care Pharm. 2005 Sep;11(7):559-64.

Huang ES, Basu A, Finch M, Frytak J, Manning W. . The complexity of medication regimens and test ordering for patients with diabetes from 1995 to 2003. Curr Med Res Opin. 2007 Jun;23(6):1423-30.

Riedel AA, Heien H, Wogen J, Plauschinat CA. Loss of glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who were receiving initial metformin, sulfonylurea, or thiazolidinedione monotherapy. Pharmacotherapy. 2007 Aug;27(8):1102-10.

Riedel AA, Heien H, Wogen J, Plauschinat CA. Secondary failure of glycemic control for patients adding thiazolidinedione or sulfonylurea therapy to a metformin regimen. Am J Manag Care. 2007 Aug;13(8):457-63.

Harley C, Li H, Corey-Lisle P, L'Italien GJ, Carson W. . Influence of medication choice and comorbid diabetes: the cost of bipolar disorder in a privately insured US population. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2007 Sep;42(9):690-97.

Harley C, Gandhi SK, Heien H, McDonough K, Nelson SP. Lipid levels and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol goal attainment in diabetic patients: Rosuvastatin compared with other statins in usual care. Expert Opin Pharmacother. 2008 Apr;9(5):669-76.

Halpern R, Fuldeore MJ, Mody RR, Patel PA, Mikuls TR. The effect of serum urate on gout flare and their associated costs. J Clin Rheumatology. 2009 Feb;15(1):3-7.

Borah BJ, Darkow T, Bouchard J, Aagren M, Forma F, Alemayehu B.  A comparison of insulin use, glycemic control, and health care costs with insulin detemir and insulin glargine in insulin-naive patients with type 2 diabetes. Clin Ther. 2009 Mar;31(3):623-31.

Thayer S, Arondekar B, Harley C, Darkow T. Adherence to a fixed-dose combination of rosiglitazone/glimepiride in subjects switching from monotherapy or dual therapy with a thiazolidinedione and/or a sulfonylurea. Ann Pharmacother. 2010 May;44(5):791-99.

Pollack M, Chastek B, Williams S, Moran J. Impact of treatment complexity on adherence and glycemic control: An analysis of oral antidiabetic agents. JCOM. June 2010;17(6):257-65.

Cantrell RA, Alatorre CI, Davis EJ, Zarotsky V, Le Nestour E, Cuyún Carter G, Goetz I, Paczkowski R, Sierra-Johnson J. A review of treatment response in type 2 diabetes: assessing the role of patient heterogeneity. Diab Obes Metab. 2010 Oct;12(10):845-57.

Lynch P, Riedel AA, Samant N, Fan Y, Peoples T, Levinson J, Lee SW. Improved A1C by switching to continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion from injection insulin therapy in type 2 diabetes: A retrospective claims analysis. Prim Care Diabetes. 2010 Dec;4(4):209-14.

Buysman EK, Conner C, Aagren M, Bouchard J, Liu F. Adherence and persistence to a regimen of basal insulin in a pre-filled pen compared to vial/syringe in insulin-naïve patients with type 2 diabetes. Curr Med Res Opin. 2011 Sep;27(9):1709-17.

Burke JP, Kovacs B, Borton L, Sander S. Health care utilization and costs in type 2 diabetes mellitus and their association with renal impairment. Postgrad Med. 2012 Mar;124(2):77-91.

Bergenstal RM, Fahrbach JL, Iorga SR, Fan Y, Foster SA. Preadmission glycemic control and changes to diabetes mellitus treatment regimen after hospitalization. Endocr Pract. 2012 May-Jun;18(3):371-75.

Williams SA, Buysman EK, Hulbert EM, Bergeson JG, Zhang B, Graham J. Hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c) outcomes and healthcare resource utilization in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients treated with combination oral antidiabetic drugs (OAD): Step-therapy, loose and fixed dose combinations. Manag Care. 2012 Jul;21(7):40-48. 

Bozeman SR, Hoaglin DC, Burton TM, Pashos CL, Ben-Joseph RH, Hollenbeak CS. Predicting waist circumference from body mass index. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2012 Aug;12:115.

Williams SA, Shi L, Brenneman SK, Johnson JC, Wegner JC, Fonseca V. The burden of hypoglycemia on healthcare utilization, costs, and quality of life among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. J Diabetes Complications. 2012 Sep-Oct;26(5):399-406.

Sullivan SD, Dalal MR, Burke JP. The impact of diabetes counseling and education: Clinical and cost outcomes from a large population of US managed care patients with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Educ. 2013 Jul-Aug;39(4):523-31.

Burton T, Le Nestour E, Bancroft T, Neary M. Real-world comorbidities and treatment patterns of patients with acromegaly in two large US health plan databases. Pituitary. 2013 Sep;16(3):354-62.

Thayer S, Wei W, Buysman E, Brekke L, Crown W, Grabner M, Raparla S, Quimbo R, Cziraky MJ, Hu W, Cuddihy R. The INITIATOR study: pilot data on real-world clinical and economic outcomes in US patients with type 2 diabetes initiating injectable therapy. Adv Ther. 2013 Dec;30(12):1128-40.

Swindle J, Ye X, Mallick R, Song R, Horstman T, Bays HE. Colesevelam, ezetimibe, and patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: Characteristics and clinical outcomes from a health care database. Ann Pharmacother. 2014 Jul;48(7):847-55.

Bounthavong M, Tran JN, Golshan S, Piland NF, Morello CM, Blickensderfer A, Best JH. Retrospective cohort study evaluating exenatide twice daily and long-acting insulin analogs in a Veterans Health Administration population with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Metab. 2014 Sep;40(4):284-91.

Xie L, Zhou S, Pinsky BW, Buysman EK, Baser O. Impact of initiating insulin glargine disposal pen versus vial/syringe on real-world glycemic outcomes and persistence among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in a large managed care plan: A claims database analysis. Diabetes Technol Ther. 2014 Sept;16(9):567-75.

Buysman EK, Chow W, Henk HJ, Rupnow MFT. Characteristics and short-term outcomes of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus treated with canagliflozin in a real-world setting. Curr Med Res Opin. 2015 Jan;31(1):137-43.

Buysman EK, Liu F, Hammer M, Langer J. Impact of medication adherence and persistence on clinical and economic outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes treated with liraglutide: a retrospective cohort study. Adv Ther. 2015 Apr;32(4):341-55.

Regnier SA, Malcolm W, Haig J, Xue W. Cost-effectiveness of ranibizumab versus aflibercept in the treatment of visual impairment due to diabetic macular edema: A UK healthcare perspective. Clinicoecon Outcomes Res. 2015 May 6;7:235-47.

Khanna PP, Shiozawa A, Walker V, Bancroft T, Essoi B, Akhras KS, Khanna D. Health-related quality of life and treatment satisfaction in patients with gout disease: Results from a cross-sectional study in a managed care setting. Patient Prefer Adherence. 2015 Jul;9:971-81.

Buysman EK, Chow W, Henk HJ, Rupnow MFT. Characteristics and short-term outcomes of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus treated with canagliflozin: a real-world analysis. BMC Endocr Disord. 2015 Nov 2;15:67.

Chow W, Buysman E, Rupnow MF, Aguilar R, Henk HJ. Canagliflozin treatment of Hispanic and non-Hispanic patients with type 2 diabetes in a US managed care setting. Curr Med Res Opin. 2016;32(1):13-22.

Burton T, Le Nestour E, Neary M, Ludlam W. Algorithm development and the clinical and economic burden of Cushing’s disease in a large US health plan database. Pituitary. 2016  Apr;19(2):167-74.

Burton T, Le Nestour E, Neary M, Ludlam W. Incidence and prevalence of acromegaly in a large US health plan database. Pituitary. 2016 Jun;19(3):262-67.  

Thayer S, Chow W, Korrer S, Aguilar R. Real-world evaluation of glycemic control among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus treated with canagliflozin versus dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors. Curr Med Res Opin. 2016 Jun;32(6):1087-96.

Haig J, Barbeau M, Ferreira A. Cost-effectiveness of ranibizumab in the treatment of visual impairment due to diabetic macular edema. J Med Econ. 2016 Jul;19(7):663-71.

Chow W, Miyasato G, Kokkotos FK, Bailey RA, Buysman EK, Henk HJ. Real-world canagliflozin utilization: Glycemic control among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus – a multi-database synthesis. Clin Ther. 2016 Sep;38(9):2071-82.

Wei W, Buysman E, Grabner M, Xie L, Brekke L, Ke X, Chu JW, Levin PA. A real-world study of treatment patterns and outcomes in US managed-care patients with type 2 Diabetes initiating injectable therapies. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2017 Mar;19(3):375-86.

Buysman EK, Anderson A, Bacchus S, Ingham M. Retrospective study of the impact of adherence in achieving glycemic goals in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients receiving canagliflozin. Adv Ther. 2017 Apr;34(4):937-53.

Thayer S, Aquilar R, Korrer S, Chow W. HbA1c outcomes in patients with canagliflozin versus sitagliptin in US health plans. Clin Ther. 2017 Oct;39(10):2061-72.

Brekke L, Buysman E, Grabner M, Ke X, Xie L, Baset O, Wei W. The use of decomposition methods in real world treatment benefits evaluation for patients with type 2 diabetes initiating different injectable therapies: findings from the INITIATOR study. Value Health. 2017 Dec;20(10):1252-59.

Buysman EK, Sikirica MV, Thayer SW, Bogard M, DuCharme MC, Joshi AV. Real-world comparison of treatment patterns and effectiveness of albiglutide and liraglutide. J Comp Eff Res. 2018 Feb;7(2):89-100.

Gandrud L, Altan A, Buzinec P, Hemphill J, Chatterton J, Kelley T, Vojta D . Intensive remote monitoring versus conventional care in type 1 diabetes: A randomized controlled trial. Pediatr Diabetes. 2018 Feb 21; doi. 10.1111/pedi.12654 [Epub ahead of print].

Parker ED, Wittbrodt ET, McPheeters J, Frias JP. Comparison of healthcare resource utilization and costs in type 2 diabetes patients initiating dapagliflozin versus sitagliptin. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2019 Feb;21(2):227-33.

Harris S, Mohammedi K, Bertolini M, White J, Carlyle M, Zhou FL, Anderson J, Seufert J. . Patient perspectives and experiences of basal insulin (BI) titration in type 2 diabetes (T2D): A US cross-sectional  survey. Metabolism. 2022;128 (Supplement):155051. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metabol.2021.155051

Harris SB, Mohammedi K, Bertolini M, Walker V, Carlyle MH, Zhou FL, Seufert J, Anderson JE. Patient and Physician Experience of Hypoglycemia during Basal Insulin (BI) Titration in Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) in the U.S. Diabetes. 1 June 2022; 71 (Supplement_1):379–P. https://doi.org/10.2337/db22-379-P

Harris SB, Seufert J, Bertolini M, Walker V, White JC, Zhou FL, Mohammedi K,  Anderson JE. Physician Perspectives and Experiences with Basal Insulin Titration in Type 2 Diabetes: A U.S. Cross-Sectional Survey. Diabetes. 1 June 2022; 71 (Supplement_1):512–P. https://doi.org/10.2337/db22-512-P

Harris SB, Mohammedi K, Bertolini M, White J, Walker V, Zhou FL, Anderson JE, Seufert J. Patient perspectives and experiences with basal insulin titration in type 2 diabetes in the United States: A cross-sectional survey. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2023 Jan 12. doi: 10.1111/dom.14973. Online ahead of print.

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