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The aims of this study were to compare the cardiovascular risk profiles of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus cared for by general practitioners and those regularly attending a diabetes center. Out of an Italian population-based cohort of 1967 diabetic patients, 1574 (80%) were investigated. Patients exclusively cared for by general practitioners (23.8%) were older and showed lower prevalence of hypertension (79.0% vs 85.9%, P 8.0, 33.4% vs 47.9%, P 8.8% (OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.45–0.99), hypertension (OR 0.53, 95% CI 0.36–0.78), fibrinogen >4.1 g/L (OR 0.50, 95% CI 0.32–0.77), smoking (OR 0.60, 95% CI 0.36–1.00), and coronary heart disease (OR 0.65, 95% CI 0.45–0.93), after adjustment for age, sex, duration of diabetes, BMI, and antidiabetic treatment. Patients regularly cared for at a diabetes clinic had a higher cardiovascular risk profile, suggesting selective referral to the clinics of patients with more difficult management and/or severity of the disease. These findings have implications in the interpretation of morbidity and mortality clinic-based studies. |
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