Determinants of glycemic control among diabetes mellitus patients in a tertiary clinic in Gaborone, Botswana: findings and implications

ABSTRACTBackground and aims: Glycemic control among patients with diabetes mellitus is associated with a marked reduction of both macrovascular and microvascular complications; however, glycemic control remains an elusive goal worldwide. The aim of this study was to determine factors associated with glycemic control among patients attending a tertiary clinic in Botswana as limited information to date.Methods: Cross-sectional study in a tertiary clinic in Gaborone, Botswana. Patients were recruited between 21 July 2015 and 21 September 2015. The majority of the randomly recruited patients (368/380–96.8%) had documentation of glycemic control (HbA1c) within three months of study recruitment and were subsequently included in the analysis. Glycemic control was categorized as desirable, suboptimal and poor if HbA1c was 9%, respectively. Data were analyzed using SPSS for descriptive statistics including both bivariate and multinomial logistic regression. A value of p < 0.05 was considered statist...