Purpose: To assess the clinical practices in the management of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) as a basis for establishing a guideline that focuses on risk factors and complications.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective audit of the medical records of 450 patients (aged 20-65 years) diagnosed with T2DM attending an employee health clinic at King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) during the period from 1 January to 1 July 2016. All patients requiring emergency treatment were excluded. A checklist of demographic variables, co-morbidities, clinical examinations, and laboratory investigations was used for collecting data.
Results: In total, 303 (67.3%) were women and 312 (69.3%) were Saudis. Forty-five (10%) patients were not receiving current treatment for diabetes and body mass index was not calculated for 117 (26%). Retinal and neurological examinations were not performed in 363 (80.7%) and 109 (24.2%) patients, respectively. Cardiovascular and peripheral vascular system examinations were not conducted for 112 (24.9%) and 114 (25.3%) patients, respectively. For laboratory investigations, 2-h glucose tolerance tests and vitamin B12 tests were not performed for 473 (97.1%) and 436 (96.9%) patients, respectively. Moreover, TSH/T4 and eGFR tests were not performed for 220 (48.9%) and 135 patients (30%), respectively.
Conclusions: We concluded that current clinical practice for management of T2DM patients is not comprehensive and that the quality of healthcare should be improved with continuous checking of patient records.
Keywords: Audit; body mass index; diabetes; retinal examination; tertiary care.