Background and objective: We aimed to assess the blood pressure (BP) control in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) treated in primary care (PC) and to establish the factors associated with a suboptimal control of BP.
Patients and method: This was a multicenter, transverse study. Ninety investigators included 875 patients with DM (57.8% women), with a mean (SD) age of 64 (11.8) years. BP was measured according to the Sixth Report of Joint National Committee (JNC-VI) and Word Health Organization/International Society Hypertension (WHO/ISH) recommendations, calculating the arithmetic mean of three consecutive measurements. Patients with a previous established diagnosis were considered to be hypertensive, and an optimal control was considered when BP values were lower than 130/85 mmHg.
Results: 66.7% (n = 583) patients with DM were previously diagnosed of hypertension (HT); 86.3% (CI 95%: 83.0-89.1) of those with type 2 DM and 87.8% (CI95%: 70.9-96.0) of those with type 1 DM did not have an optimal control of BP at the visit (BP >= 130 and/or 85 mmHg). 56.8% (CI 95%: 50.1-63.3) of those with type 2 DM and 23.8% (CI 95%: 12.6-39.8) of those with type 1 DM with unknown HT had a BP >= 130 and/or 85 mmHg at the visit. The median of antihypertensive drugs used was 1 (1-2). In a multivariate analysis, age, higher body mass index (BMI), higher cholesterol levels and uric acid were associated with a worse BP control (p < 0.001).
Conclusions: In our study, 66.7% of patients with DM attended in PC had known HT and only 13.6% had an optimal BP control. Diabetic patients with HT were undertreated, with a median of one antihypertensive drug.