Glycemic Control in Community-Dwelling Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Nearly 25% of Canadians have either diabetes or prediabetes, with diabetes-associated health care costs reaching $12.2 billion in 2010.1 It has been reported that glycemic control in primary care is poor. Harris and colleagues2 conducted a study across the 10 provinces of Canada to assess the quality of care and treatment of type 2 diabetes patients in primary care settings. They reported that almost half of the patients with type 2 diabetes in primary care settings did not achieve their glycemic target (HbA1c ≤7%).2 Poor glycemic control puts diabetes patients at high risk of suffering from diabetes complications.3 Glycemic control testing plays an essential role not only in diabetes diagnosis,4 but it is also considered the first step in diabetes management.2 There are 3 different ways to measure glycemic control: Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), in which the blood glucose concentration is measured 2 hours after taking a glucose solution (75 g anhydrous glucose dissolved in water) Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) (the 2008 Canadian Diabetes Association Guidelines recommend diabetes patients to have HbA1c ≤7%)4