OBJECTIVETo investigate the quality of type 2 diabetes care according to sex.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSClinical data collected during the year 2009 were extracted from electronic medical records; quality-of-care indicators were evaluated. Multilevel logistic regression analysis was applied to estimate the likelihood of women versus men to be monitored for selected parameters, to reach clinical outcomes, and to be treated with specific classes of drugs. The intercenter variability in the proportion of men and women achieving the targets was also investigated.RESULTSOverall, 415,294 patients from 236 diabetes outpatient centers were evaluated, of whom 188,125 (45.3%) were women and 227,169 (54.7%) were men. Women were 14% more likely than men to have HbA1c >9.0% in spite of insulin treatment (odds ratio 1.14 [95% CI 1.10–1.17]), 42% more likely to have LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) ≥130 mg/dL (1.42 [1.38–1.46]) in spite of lipid-lowering treatment, and 50% more likely to have BMI ≥30 kg/m2 (1.50 [1.50–1.54]). Women were less likely to be monitored for foot and eye complications. In 99% of centers, the percentage of men reaching the LDL-C target was higher than in women, the proportion of patients reaching the HbA1c target was in favor of men in 80% of the centers, and no differences emerged for blood pressure.CONCLUSIONSWomen show a poorer quality of diabetes care than men. The attainment of the LDL-C target seems to be mainly related to pathophysiological factors, whereas patient and physician attitudes can play an important role in other process measures and outcomes.
An association between hyperinsulinemia and hypertension has been suggested by epidemiological surveys. To assess whether this association is independent of the presence of other hyperinsulinemic states, such as obesity and glucose intolerance, we measured the insulin response to oral glucose in a group of middle-aged moderately obese [144 +/- 4% overweight (mean +/- SEM)] patients (n = 18) with essential hypertension (174 +/- 5/104 +/- 2 mm Hg) and normal glucose tolerance. Normotensive subjects (n = 17) with normal glucose tolerance, matched for age and degree of overweight, served as the control group. The mean insulin response to glucose was twice as high in the hypertensive patients (25.8 +/- 0.2 mU/ml X 2 h) as in the normotensive subjects (11.3 +/- 0.2; P less than 0.001), yet the glucose incremental area was 3-fold higher in the former (10.9 +/- 1.0 g/dl X 2 h) than in the latter (3.5 +/- 0.7; P less than 0.001), thus indicating more severe insulin resistance. In the hypertensive group, systolic blood pressure levels were directly correlated with the 2-h plasma insulin values (r = 0.75; P less than 0.001). Furthermore, the 2-h plasma insulin value and the degree of overweight accounted for 65% of the variation in the systolic blood pressure in a multiple regression model (r = 0.81; P less than 0.001). We conclude that in obesity, the occurrence of hypertension marks the presence of additional hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance, independent of any impairment of glucose tolerance.
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