The prevalence of uncontrolled diabetes mellitus in patients with type 2 diabetes: a multicenter cross-sectional study.

Purpose: The prevalence of diabetes is increasing worldwide. Studies have shown that poor blood sugar control is associated with the complications of diabetes, we aimed to determine the prevalence of uncontrolled diabetes mellitus (UDM) and its related factors.

Methods: This multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted in 2021 on type 2 diabetic patients in three cities; Rasht (in Gillan province), Borujerd (in Lorestan province), and Khodabandeh (in Zanjan province). A predesigned checklist was used to extract the basic characteristics of participants, their hemoglobin A1C, and other required data from their medical records. The prevalence of uncontrolled diabetes was reported with a 95% Confidence Interval.

Results: In this study, the medical records of 460 patients with type 2 diabetes were included. The mean and standard deviation (SD) of the age of participants was 59.17 (11.59), and 73.2% (337) of participants were female. The prevalence of UDM in Rasht, Borujerd, and Khodabandeh was 58.27%, 69.38%, and 45.65% respectively. The prevalence of UDM in obese patients was 64.78% (57.03, 71.82). Based on the results of the adjusted model, an increase in diastolic blood pressure was significantly associated with UDM, meaning each unit increase in diastolic blood pressure was associated with a 3% increase in UDM (95% CI: 1.01, 1.06), adjusted for age, gender and education.

Conclusion: According to these results, the prevalence of UDM among patients with diabetes is high. Diastolic blood pressure and low level of education were associated with UDM in diabetic patients.