The quality of care and the health outcomes of people with type 2 diabetes assisted in Italian diabetes centers are improving: of the more than 500,000 patients monitored each year through the Annali Amd initiative, the analysis of the risk factor trend has shown that more than half (54.6%) had glycated hemoglobin values at target, 23% had good blood pressure values (<130/80 mmHg) and 34.3% LDL cholesterol (<70 mg/dl). Access to the most innovative pharmacological treatments is good: compared to the previous Annali Amd survey, the proportion of patients treated with Sglt2i has increased from 9.5% to 29%; 5.8% to 27.5% with Glp1-Ra.
This is the photograph taken by Annali Amd 2022, the periodic extraction carried out by the Association of Diabetologists (AMD) which since 2006 has made it possible to monitor the trend of assistance provided to the population with diabetes in Italy. This year the survey involved 295 diabetes centers – equal to a third of the national total – and overall more than 500,000 people with type 2 diabetes, 37,000 with type 1 diabetes and, for the first time, 11,000 women with gestational diabetes .
The results on type 2 diabetes – reports a note – were the subject of a publication in ‘Diabetes Research & Clinical Practice’. In general, there is a progressive and continuous improvement in the quality of care provided in our country. “The data on access to innovative drugs, Sglt2i and Glp1-Ra, with proven efficacy in terms of cardiovascular and renal risk reduction, is particularly significant. The prescription and use of sulphonylureas and secretagogues has also decreased; while the drug metformin remains the most prescribed (72%) – says Giuseppina Russo, coordinator of the Annali Amd Group – We can therefore state that the Italian diabetes community has embarked on an increasingly direct path to counteracting therapeutic inertia. innovative drugs that support doctors and patients to reduce the impact of cardio-renal complications in people with uncontrolled diabetes, to the benefit of their health and quality of life”.
The progressive improvement of the care and treatments provided in the diabetes centers monitored by the Amd Annals also emerges by looking at the results of the Q-score, the index that measures the quality of assistance. In fact, more than 60% of people with type 2 diabetes have a Q-score >25 which corresponds to an adequate level of assistance with direct benefits on overall health and on the reduction of complications due to risk factors.
“We are very proud that the work of the Annals has received due recognition with the publication in ‘Diabetes Research & Clinical Practice’ – says Graziano Di Cianni, national president of the Amd – Since 2006 the Annals have given us the opportunity to touch the results of the activities that we carry out on a daily basis in the area and also to guide therapeutic strategies thanks to the implementation of data with artificial intelligence and machine learning.The slow but progressive improvement of the parameters, the increase in the use of innovative drugs and the best quality of life are elements that make us particularly satisfied”. At the same time “it is necessary to make a further effort – he concludes – to improve adherence to therapies and further reduce cardiovascular risk, which represents the first cause of death in people with diabetes”.
