Comparative efficacy and safety of basal insulins: A review

•Basal insulins all have a similar efficacy in metabolic control of type 2 diabetes mellitus.•Insulin glargine-100 and detemir have a lower risk of hypoglycemia than NPH insulin.•Insulin degludec-100 and glargine-300 have a lower risk of hypoglycemia than glargine-100.•No important differences were found when comparing glargine-300 to degludec-100 and glargine-300 to degludec-200.