Quality of diabetes care at Armed Forces Hospital, Southern Region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2006

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the current status of care provided by the Diabetes Center at Armed Forces Hospital, Southern Region. Materials and Methods : A total of 260 patients were randomly selected from the diabetic patients attending the Diabetes Center. Study tools comprised patients′ data sheets and patients′ interview questionnaire. Results : Two-thirds of the patients were aged 50 years or more. Half of patients had had the disease for less than 10 years. Diet therapy alone was followed by 2.3% of diabetic patients. More than half of patients (56.5%) were on insulin. Most of the diabetic patients were tested for HbA1c at least once per year (88.1%), and 71.5% had their lipid profile done at least once within two years. Low indicators included having a dilated eye examination (35.4%), assessment for nephropathy (28.8%), and having a well-documented foot examination (12.7%). Highest risk HbA1c level (>9.5%) was reached by 38.8% of patients, 48.8% had a low-density lipoprotein level of