The egg or the chicken? Further data on whether good compliance to multi-injection insulin therapy should be a criterion for insulin pump therapy, or does insulin pump therapy improve compliance?

We evaluated the prevalence of dropouts from the CSII to multi-injection therapy. Eighteen (12.9%) patients (9 males and 9 females) dropped out from CSII. There was no statistically significant difference between Naples (14.6%) and Messina (12%; P .9). The percentage of dropouts was statistically higher in the first year than in the second year (7.3% vs 4%; P .001) and in the first 6 months than in the following 6 months (4.6% vs 2.79%; P .001). Our data demonstrate that the enrolment criteria on the basis of metabolic control do not predict the dropout rate. Pump therapy compliance should be assessed at least 6 months after implantation.