Predictors of Glycemic Control among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes in Western China: A Multi-center Cross Sectional Study

The prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is increasing rapidly in China. Glycemic control is vital in this patient population. We designed a cross-sectional questionnaire to investigate glycemic control and associated factors in T2DM patients in Western China. The survey included patients' medical history, blood glucose status, and therapeutic medications, as well as demographic data. The Chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, and logistic regression were performed to analyze the data. The STROBE checklist was used to check the procedure. Among 510 T2DM patients included in this study, 47.5% of them had blood glucose control within the normal range, defined as glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) <= 7% or fasting plasma glucose (FPG) <7.0 mmol/ L. The mean age of participants was 60.58 +/- 11.20 years, with a male to female ratio of 1.02 : 1. Glycemic control was significantly associated with region (p < 0.001), comorbidities (p < 0.001), monitoring frequency (p = 0.002), treatment with insulin (p = 0.003), and medication compliance (p < 0.001). Logistic regression analysis showed that unsuccessful glycemic control was significantly related to wealthier residence (p < 0.001), more comorbidities (p = 0.017), monitoring frequency (p = 0.003), and medication incompliance (p < 0.001). These results suggested that the level of glycemic control among T2DM patients in Western China was poor. It is necessary to carry out health management and nursing of diabetic patients from community, family and patients jointly.