Prevalence and control of type 2 diabetes mellitus among primary care physicians in Spain. PRISMA Study

To describe the prevalence of known and ignored type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) among primary care physicians (PCP), as well as the treatment used and the degree of metabolic control reached.

Descriptive cross-sectional study on national level. The participants were randomly selected PCPs, members of the redGDPS Foundation. A total of 495 PCP were enrolled. Capillary HbA_1c measurement was done with a A1CNow+^® device and a diabetes-related survey specifically designed for the study was administered to the participants.

The total prevalence of T2DM was 11.1% (95% CI 8.33-13.9) (known disease 8,1% and ignored disease 3.0%). The prevalence of prediabetes was 16.2% (95% CI 13.0-19.4). A total of 62.5% of PCPs with known T2DM reached HbA_1c<7% and 15% had HbA_1c>8.5%. Control of blood pressure (BP<140/90mmHg) was reached in 87.5% and control of LDL cholesterol<130mg/dl with no history of cardiovascular disease was reached in 88.6% of cases of known T2DM. In the PCPs with a history of macrovascular disease, good control of LDL was reached in 42.9% of the cases. A total of 12.5% were active smokers. A total of 71.4% of PCPs with known T2DM self-treated their own disease, usually with 2 or more drugs (51.4%). The most commonly used drug was metformin (74.3%) followed by iDPP4 (48.6%).

PCPs with T2DM have better metabolic control than the general population. It is necessary to study whether PCPs with T2DM may have greater adherence to treatment and do they achieve a better metabolic control.