Microvascular diabetic complications are more prevalent in India compared to Mauritius and the UK due to poorer diabetic control.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a growing worldwide problem with WHO estimates suggesting that 300 million people will be affected by 2025. T2DM could result in both microvascular and macrovascular complications but the presentation of these complications could vary globally and be influenced by diabetic control. We investigated the prevalence of these complications by surveying 787 patients of south-Asian origin in diabetic clinics in the UK (n=351), Mauritius (n=173) and India (n=263). We found the prevalence of microvascular complications such as retinopathy (India 16.3%; Mauritius 2.3%; UK 2.6%), nephropathy (India 20.5%; Mauritius 10.5%; UK 2.3%) and neuropathy (India 8.4%; Mauritius 1.2%; UK 5.1%) complications to be significantly higher in India compared to Mauritius and the UK (p<0.05). Interestingly, macrovascular complications such as cardiovascular disease were significantly more prevalent in Mauritius and the UK compared to India (p<0.05). The use of diabetic medication such as Metformin, Sulphonylureas and Insulin was significantly higher in the UK and Mauritius compared to India (p<0.05). The mean HbA1c was significantly higher in India compared to the UK (India 8.68%; UK 8.30%). Our results suggest that microvascular complications are higher in India due to poorer diabetic control. Our findings could be explained by late-onset presentation of diabetic patients in India due to the lack of primary care initiatives to screen and monitor treatment of T2DM. Furthermore, the poor diabetic control in India could reflect a dearth of clinical, evidence-based-knowledge regarding diabetic medication amongst Indian physicians. In view of the global increase in T2DM, this is a major concern for Indian healthcare.