Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of initial insulin therapy versus oral hypoglycemic agents in glucose control among newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetes patients. Methodology: This is a systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs with quality grade B searched using the medical subject headings (MeSH): diabetes mellitus type 2, insulin, oral hypoglycemic agent, with adults newly diagnosed with type 2 DM as subjects and given insulin (± metformin) vs. OHA. Results were summarized as graphs and forest plots using the random effects due to foreseen sources of heterogeneity using Review Manager version 5.1. Results: Presence of substantial heterogeneity prevents us from making a conclusion. All four studies showed lower post treatment BMI among participants in the insulin treatment arm. An opposite finding was expected as insulin is known to cause weight gain. Main adverse effect was hypoglycemia. Conclusion Among newly diagnosed type 2 DM patients, there is insufficient evidence for or against the use of insulin compared to oral hypoglycemic agents as initial management in terms of improvement in glycemic control, decrease in insulin resistance, and improvement in beta cell function.
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; Glycemic Control