Adherence to the National Guidelines for Follow-Up Protocol in Subjects with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Greece: The GLANCE Study.

INTRODUCTION Physician adherence, or lack therefore, to diabetes care and follow-up guidelines may be linked to the rates of achieving suboptimal glycaemic, blood pressure and lipid targets in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). In this cross-sectional study we evaluated physician adherence to the patient follow-up protocol (PFP) of the 2017 Hellenic Diabetes Association (HDA) guidelines and also assessed glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), blood pressure and lipid control achievement rates in the routine care setting in Greece. METHODS Eligible subjects were adults with T2DM receiving oral hypoglycaemic agents (OHAs) for ≥ 1 year who had ≥ 2 HbA1c measurements in the previous year and an HbA1c target   3 medical conditions/comorbidities (p = 0.043) and diabetic complications (p < 0.001). HbA1c, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, systolic/diastolic blood pressure and composite metabolic targets were achieved by 82.1, 57.0, 42.6 and 21.6% of subjects, respectively. CONCLUSIONS In Greek routine care, physician adherence to the PFP of the 2017 HDA guidelines is suboptimal. Future efforts should focus on identifying the barriers to an adequate adherence by physicians to the full PFP, with the aim to provide optimal patient care.