Massive underreporting of type II Diabetes in emergency department admissions

Background The prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has continued to increase in developed and developing countries in past decades. T2DM is the most frequent chronic disease in Denmark with a prevalence of 4 %, with an equal estimated prevalence of undiagnosed cases. T2DM is associated with several complications that can lead to acute deterioration and need of acute admittance to the hospital. Every day 10 patients die from T2DM-related complications in Denmark. The objectives of this study were: 1) to establish the number of patients with T2DM referred to the Department of Internal Medicine via the Emergency Department and the number of patients who were diagnosed with T2DM upon referral; 2) to report which anti-diabetics they used at the time of admittance.