Current Practice in the Management of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Jordan: Results of the Jordanian Diabetes Management Practices Study

Background and Aims: The aims of this study were to determine the proportion of T2DM patients achieving optimal glycemic control of glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) below 7%, to describe the profile of patients with T2DM in Jordan, and to describe the management and care of patients with T2DM in public institutions in Jordan. Patients and methods: This is a multicenter, cross-sectional study included 432 diabetic patients from 22 sites across Jordan. Data related to the socio-economic profile, medical history, diabetes-related complications, physical examination, glycemic control, episodes of hypoglycemia as well as concomitant anti-diabetic therapy were collected. Results: The proportion of T2DM patients achieving glycemic targets (HbA1c<7%) was 29.2% and 18.1% achieving the HbA1c <6.5%. The proportion of T2DM achieving the triple target HbA1c<7%, normal blood pressure (SBP/DBP: 140/90 mmHg) and LDL-C<100 mg/dL was 8.1%. 41.9% of the subjects had micro or macro vascular complications, including Retinopathy (19.4%), Sensory Neuropathy (17.6%), Microalbuminuria (4.9%) and Angina (5.8%). Furthermore, 5.6% patients were hospitalized one time due to DM during the past 12 months. 16.4% of patients experienced symptomatic hypoglycemia in the past 3 months, 6.8% of which had severe hypoglycemia. Conclusion: This study shows that the glycemic control in the majority of a cohort of patients with diabetes managed in the public healthcare sector in Jordan was suboptimal, which is consistent with previous findings from local, regional and international cohorts. The results demonstrate the urgent need to design and launch projects to improve metabolic control among patients with type 2 diabetes in Jordan.