Current practice in the management of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Saudi Arabia

Objectives: To gather data on Current practices in the management of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Saudi Arabia and to evaluate the degree of compliance with international guidelines. Methods: This paper represents the results of the Saudi Arabia T2DM data collected at the cross-sectional part of Wave 2006 of the International Diabetes Management Practices Study (IDMPS). Data were collected on a case report form from 28 health centers all over the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in the period between 01/12/2006 and 30/12/2006. It included demographic and socioeconomic profile in addition to diabetes management and metabolic control. Results: Three hundred and fifty-three Saudi T2DM diabetic patients were studied. The mean age was 51.61 +/- 10.84 years; average duration of diabetes was 8.25 +/- 6.49 years; 63-86% had never been screened for diabetes complications or cardiovascular risk factors during the previous year. Of all patients with T2DM, 7% were treated with insulin alone, 28% with oral glucose lowering drug (OGLD) + insulin and 64% with OGLD alone. The average last hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) was 8.20 +/- 1.89% and among all patients, only 27% had reached the target HbA1c of < 7% while 42% of patients had been considered as reached glycemic control by physicians. Sixteen percent attained the target blood pressure of < 130/80, and 65% had lipid profile above the optimal level. Conclusions: The majority of patients did not attain the recommended target glycemic level. This indicates the presence of a gap between recommendations of the international guidelines and the actual practices.