[Diabetic co-morbidities: prevalences in Germany]

In some patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) chronic hyperglycemia leads to microvascular complications in retina, kidney and nerves. Concerning missing data from Germany cited prevalence in German educational books and guidelines arise from other countries. This review demonstrates the prevalence of diabetic comorbidities in Germany. The largest investigation in Germany is the Disease-Management-Programm Nordrhein with more than 450.000 surveyed DM  patients. These researches show good comparability with most analyses respective to the prevalence of diabetic comorbidities in Germany. Patients with DM2 have a mean Hba1c of 7 % and patients with DM1 of 7.9 %. In patients with DM2 the prevalence of retinopathy is 11 %, nephropathy 10 % and neuropathy 20 %. Co-morbidities are more commonin patients with long diabetes duration and high HbA1c. In patients with DM1 the prevalence of retinopathy is 25 %, of nephropathy 15 % and neuropathy 27 %. The prevalence of diabetic co-morbidities in primary care in Germany is considerably lower as mentioned in educational books or guidelines. This positive development is reasonable through a better quality of care, nationwide early detection examinations and training programmes.