Physician adherence to the SEMT guidelines for the management of type 2 diabetes in Turkey: ADMIRE study

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the impact of physicians' adherence to the guidelines developed by the Diabetes Study Group of The Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism of Turkey (SEMT) on glycemic control in diabetes mellitus.Materials and Methods: This was a multi-center, retrospective, and non-interventional study. The medical records of 1.790 patients with type 2 diabetes followed by 180 physicians during the last 12 months were reviewed. Adherence of physicians to the SEMT guidelines was scored between 0-10 (0 for non-adherence, 10 for full adherence).Results: Follow-up procedures were = 75% in adherence to the guidelines in 52% of patients. Medical history was taken in full adherence to the guidelines for 69.8% of patients, but physical examination was in full adherence only for 8.3% of patients. The degree of guideline adherence for physical examination was inversely correlated with glycated hemoglobin A1c (A1C), fasting blood glucose (FBG), and 2-hour postprandial blood glucose (PPBG) levels. The minimum levels of A1C, FBG, and PPBG were significantly associated with the degree of general adherence to the guidelines (P< 0.05).Conclusions: Physician adherence to the SEMT guidelines is suboptimal. Training of physicians would increase their adherence providing standardization of care and improving patients' outcome.