RESUMEN
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of diabetes mellitus treated pharmacologically, analyse the prescription patterns of antidiabetic drugs and assess the degree of control over the disease in the province of Cadiz. PATIENTS AND METHODS: An observational retrospective study was conducted with the databases of the public health system of the Andalusian Health Service between 2014 and 2016, inclusive. Adults with treated diabetes (ATD) were considered those older than 14 years who had consumed at least 1 package of medication from the A10 group during the corresponding year covered by the study. RESULTS: The prevalence of ATD varied between 8.65% and 8.83% from 2014 to 2016, respectively. Seventy-one percent of the ATD were treated with only noninsulin drugs, 11% were treated with insulin, and 18% were treated with a combination of both. For approximately one-third of the ATD, an HbA1c reading was not performed during each year. Sixty-nine percent of the assessed ATD in 2016 had an appropriate degree of control according to RedGDPS criteria (based on HbA1c and age). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of pharmacologically treated diabetes in the province of Cadiz is high and appears to be increasing. The patients presented limited glycaemic control, to which inadequate follow-up in almost a third of the patients could be the major contributor.