Low rates of diabetic patients reaching good control targets.

A cross-sectional study was conducted of 404 diabetic patients attending King Abdulaziz University Hospital medical clinic from June 1998 to January 2000 in order to determine their rates of reaching target levels for blood glucose, blood pressure, serum lipids and body mass index. Greatest difficulty was found in reaching target levels for low-density lipoprotein and glycated haemoglobin. Target levels for blood pressure were harder to achieve for Saudis than non-Saudis. Significantly fewer females reached target levels for blood glucose, body mass index, low-density lipoprotein or all targets than males (both Saudi and non-Saudi). Efforts are needed to improve compliance to diet and drug regimens and to identify and treat risk factors in each patient.