TOPLINE:

In adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D) who did not achieve glycemic control while on dulaglutide, switching to tirzepatide produced greater improvements in emotional health and weight‑related quality of life than escalating the dulaglutide dose.

METHODOLOGY:

• SURPASS-SWITCH was a 40-week, open-label randomized trial involving adults with T2D inadequately controlled with 0.75 or 1.5 mg of dulaglutide plus up to three oral antihyperglycemic medications.
• Participants were randomly assigned to switch to tirzepatide (15 mg or the maximum tolerated dose; n = 136) or to escalate their dulaglutide dose (4.5 mg or the maximum tolerated dose; n = 137); the median age was 58-59 years, and 46%-50.3% were female.
• Because switching to tirzepatide produced significantly greater reductions in A1c levels and body weight than escalating the dulaglutide dose, researchers assessed health- and weight-related quality of life to evaluate the treatment’s emotional impact.
• The patient-reported outcomes measured were the impact of weight on self-perception, impact of weight on quality of life, ability to perform daily activities, emotional impact of diabetes treatment, and global impression of emotional health; most surveys were conducted at randomization and study end.

TAKEAWAY:

• At week 40, participants who switched to tirzepatide reported a greater improvement in weight-related self-perception than those who escalated their dulaglutide dose (treatment difference, 6.7; 95% CI, 1.2-12.2).
• Nearly 50% of those who switched to tirzepatide reported feeling much more hopeful (48.5%), optimistic (47.8%), happy (46.3%), self-confident (45.6%), and good about themselves (45.6%) than when receiving their previous treatment; the corresponding values in the dulaglutide escalation group were 35.8%, 35.8%, 35.8%, 32.8%, and 30.7%, respectively.
• More tirzepatide-treated participants felt much more in control of their diabetes (52.2% vs 32.8%), eating (44.1% vs 29.2%), and weight (46.3% vs 25.5%) than those who escalated their dulaglutide dose.
• The tirzepatide switch group also reported feeling much less fearful (36.0% vs 27.7%), frustrated (44.9% vs 38.0%), and worried (40.4% vs 29.2%) about their diabetes treatment than the dulaglutide escalation group.

IN PRACTICE:

“Overall, the PRO [patient-reported outcome] results from SURPASS-SWITCH were consistent with the improved clinical outcomes for hemoglobin A1c and body weight in the tirzepatide treatment group, indicating that greater clinical effects may be associated with a greater QOL [quality of life] gain for patients,” the authors of the study wrote.

SOURCE:

The study was led by Kristina S. Boye, PhD, Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis. It was published online as a brief research report on March 31 in Annals of Internal Medicine.

LIMITATIONS:

The patient-reported outcomes were assessed only at baseline and the endpoint, with no additional measurements to follow improvement at multiple timepoints. The interpretation was constrained by the number of patients completing the patient-reported outcome instruments. The open-label trial design may have affected patients’ perception of health-related quality of life.

DISCLOSURES:

Eli Lilly and Company provided funding for this study. All authors declared being employees of and holding stock options in Eli Lilly and Company.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.