Glycemic and weight control in people with type 2 diabetes: A real-world observational study in primary care

Abstract

Aims

To analyze glycemic and bodyweight control in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and prescribing patterns in primary care.

Methods

We reviewed the electronic medical records of 5009 randomly selected T2DM patients, from 70 health centers in Spain. We analyzed results by age group and presence/absence of obesity. All data were collected in 2022.

Results

Regarding treatment, 13.2 % of the sample were on lifestyle therapy only, 76.5 % received metformin, 37.6 % SGLT2 inhibitors, 32.2 % DPP-4 inhibitors, 12.2 % GLP-1 agonists, 18.9 % insulin, 6.5 % sulfonylureas, and 1.3 % glitazones. Glycated Hemoglobin (HbA1c) was below 7 % in 57.7 % of patients, and 62.3 % met their individualized HbA1c targets. Overall, 42 % of the population was obese (45.6 % of women vs 39.1 % of men; p = 0.001). Obesity rates decreased with age in both sexes. We found no association between obesity and poor glycemic control (HbA1c<7 %) (43,5 % vs 41,4 %; p = 0,17).

Conclusions

In 2022, over 60 % of people with T2DM treated by family doctors in Spain met their individualized glycemic control targets, but only one in three had good glycemic control without obesity. The use of drugs with cardiorenal benefits (particularly SGLT2 inhibitors) is higher than previous published data in our setting.