Diabetes guidelines and clinical practice: is there a gap? The South African cohort of the International Diabetes Management Practices Study

AbstractObjectives: The objective of this survey was to determine the therapeutic management of patients with diabetes in the South African private healthcare environment.Design: The International Diabetes Management Practices Study is an international multicentre and observational study. In this paper, the local South African data from the cross-sectional cohort study are discussed.Setting: South African healthcare providers who were involved in the management of patients with diabetes.Subjects: Subjects included male and female adult patients who were diagnosed with type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus and who consulted their healthcare provider during a specified period of two weeks.Outcome measures: Information on patient demographic and socio-economic profiles, relevant medical histories, data on previous and concomitant antidiabetic treatments, glycaemic status, patient education levels and the impact of diabetes on absenteeism and hospitalisation was collected.Results: A total of 899 patients from 54...