Objective: To assess the current understanding of treatment and management protocols for adult diabetic inpatients at a tertiary care hospital.
Methods: This cross-sectional study, conducted at the Civil Hospital Karachi from July to September 2009, involved 450 participants, who were interviewed through a well-structured questionnaire regarding the patient's demography, clinical features, past medical history, type of diabetes mellitus, duration, associated complications, and also involved patient notes for laboratory tests and management. SPSSv15.0 was used for descriptive analysis.
Results: The study population of 450 diabetics had 144 (32%) males and 306 (68%) females. Of the total, 435 (96.7%) patients had type 2 diabetes. There were 231 (51%) patients using insulin, 168 (37.3%) oral hypoglycaemic drugs, and 51 (11.3%) using both. Among patients using insulin, regular insulin usage stood at 30% followed by a combination of regular insulin and NPH (26.7%) and NPH alone at 6%. The most popular drug used was metformin (27.3%) and the least used drug was glitazones (4%). In the study population, 73.3% patients controlled their diabetes with diet, and 24.7% with regular exercise.
Conclusion: Majority of the study population had type 2 diabetes with a female preponderance. Insulin was prescribed for half the patients. Metformin was the most frequently used oral hypoglycaemic drug.