• Elif I Ekinci, Felicity Pyrlis, Mariam Hachem, Louise J Maple-Brown, Alex Brown, Graeme Maguire, Leonid Churilov, and Neale Cohen.
• Department of Endocrinology, Austin Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
• Intern Med J. 2021 Sep 1; 51 (9): 146314721463-1472.

BackgroundDiabetes is 3-4 times more prevalent in Indigenous Australians with blood glucose levels often above target range. Once weekly formulations of exenatide(exenatide-LAR) have demonstrated significantly greater improvements in glycaemic management with no increased risk of hypoglycaemia and with reductions in bodyweight but have not been studied in Indigenous Australians.AimsTo assess the feasibility and metabolic effects of once weekly supervised injection of exenatide-LAR in addition to standard care in Indigenous Australians with type 2 diabetes.MethodsTwo communities in Central Australia with longstanding specialist clinical outreach services were allocated by random coin toss to receive once-weekly exenatide-LAR injection with weekly nurse review and adjustment of medication for 20 weeks (community with exenatide-LAR) or to weekly nurse review in addition to standard care over 20 weeks (community without exenatide-LAR). The primary outcome was the feasibility of an intensive diabetes management model of care with and without weekly supervised exenatide-LAR. Secondary outcomes included change in HbA1c.ResultsThirteen participants from the community with exenatide-LAR and nine participants from the community without exenatide-LAR were analysed. Eighty-five percent of individuals in the community with exenatide-LAR and 67% in the community without exenatide-LAR attended more than half of clinic visits. Median difference in the change in HbA1c from baseline to final visit, adjusted for baseline HbA1c, between the community with exenatide-LAR and the community without exenatide-LAR was -3.1%, 95% CI (-5.80%, -0.38%; P = 0.03).ConclusionsWeekly exenatide-LAR combined with weekly nurse review demonstrated greater improvements in HbA1c, highlighting its potential for use in remote communities.© 2021 Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

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