The American Diabetes Association states that optimal glycaemic management for adults is characterised by a glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) level of less than 7% (1) . HbA1c is suitable for reflecting glycaemic control from the previous two or three months, and a decrease of 1% in HbA1c levels was associated with a 21% decrease in diabetes-related mortality, a 14% reduction in the incidence of myocardial infarction, and a 37% decrease in microvascular complications (2) . According to the National Health Survey 2016-17, 1,747,100 people in Chile lived with diabetes mellitus, 55.4% of whom had poor glycaemic control, defined as an HbA1c level above 7% (3) . Nevertheless, no studies have assessed the prevalence of poor glycaemic control in regions of Chile. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of poor glycaemic control in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) from Copiapó, Atacama Region (Chile). A cross-sectional analysis was carried out within the CODIACO cohort in 2023. This study included 118 subjects, both men and women, aged 30 to 65 years, presenting with T2D and attending Primary Health Care Centres (PHCCs) in Copiapó. Pregnant or breastfeeding women were excluded from the study, as well as patients with diabetic neuropathy, nephropathy, cancer, or serious infectious or inflammatory conditions. Sociodemographic data were collected, and HbA1c levels were measured using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography, the “gold standard” method for this biomarker. HbA1c levels of 7% or higher were considered “poor glycaemic control”. Continuous variables were expressed as median and interquartile range, while qualitative variables were presented as absolute and relative frequency. Standard statistical tests were used to make comparisons by sex. A p-value lower than 0.05 was deemed statistically significant. Data were analysed using SPSS software. The Scientific Ethics Committee at the University of Atacama approved the CODIACO study. Funding was provided by FONDECYT 11180794 and DIUDA 88213R5. The participants, 76 of whom were female and 42 of whom were male, were 59.0 (52.5 - 63.0) years old. The HbA1c levels were 7.4% (6.5 - 9.2) for females and 7.3% (6.6 - 8.0) for males (p = 0.759). Regarding the prevalence of poor glycaemic control, it was observed that 57.6% of subjects had HbA1c levels above 7%. The prevalence of poor glycaemic control was 55.3% in females and 61.9% in males. However, no statistically significant differences were observed between the groups (p = 0.485). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the prevalence of poor glycemic control in the diabetic population of northern Chile. Our findings showed an elevated prevalence of poor glycemic control in this population, even higher than what is reported nationwide. Further research is required to verify these results and explore their source in greater detail.
Fernández‐Cao et al. (Fri,) studied this question.