Younger adult type 2 diabetic patients have poorer glycaemic control: a cross-sectional study in a primary care setting in Singapore.

Background: The aim was to study the glycaemic control of type 2 diabetic patients, and to identify factors associated with unacceptable glycaemic control (defined as HbA1c >8.0%).

Methods: Analysis of data collected in a cross-sectional survey of type 2 diabetic patients in eight SingHealth Polyclinics in January 2009. HbA1c value was measured on the day of the survey, while information on patient and diabetic characteristics was obtained through a questionnaire. Odds ratio of having unacceptable glycaemic control was estimated for selected variables using multiple logistic regression models.

Results: A total of 688 patients were included in the analysis. The mean (± standard deviation) and median (range) HbA1c levels were 7.6% (± 1.35) and 7.3% (5.0% to 14.0%), respectively. 25.4% of the patients had an unacceptable HbA1c level of >8.0% and the odds of this were higher (p < 0.05) in patients with the following characteristics: younger age, longer diabetes duration, presence of insulin treatment, and poorer compliance to medication.

Conclusion: Younger adult patients were found to have poorer glycaemic control, and hence targeted educational and behaviour modification programmes would be required to effectively manage this group of patients.