This prospective, cross‐sectional study was designed to gather information about the management of patients with Type 2 diabetes (NIDDM). It was conducted in three of the largest European healthcare providing countries: France, Germany and the UK. Three hundred and five physicians completed five sections of a diary card (covering aspects of workload, demography, treatment, condition and tests conducted) anonymously for 3,043 pharmacologically‐treated Type 2 patients attending for a consultation. The majority of the patient population were elderly, had had a long diagnosis of diabetes, were overweight and had several coexisting complications. Neuropathy, nephropathy and retinopathy were present in 23%, 24% and 15% of the patients, respectively. Concomitant cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia and ischaemic heart disease were present in 49%, 40% and 34% of patients, respectively. Fifty per cent of patients had undergone a change in therapy in the previous five years: the major reason being ‘insufficient glycaemic control’. In the remainder, adverse effects of weight gain and hypoglycaemia were most commonly reported. This information provides an insight into the present and future clinical burden that diabetes places on patients, physicians and healthcare systems.

This is the second paper presenting information from a prospective, cross‐sectional survey of patients with Type 2 diabetes in France, Germany and the UK. An anonymised physician‐completed diary card was used to collect data about the treatment of 3,043 drug‐treated patients with Type 2 diabetes. The most common antidiabetic treatment, taken by 48% of patients aged over 60 years, was sulphonylurea monotherapy. The most frequent combination was a sul‐phonylurea with a biguanide. Nearly 40% of patients who had been diagnosed more than 25 years previously were receiving insulin therapy alone. In 70% of patients the reason for changing therapy in the previous five years was insufficient glycaemic control. Hypoglycaemia was the most common reason for treatment change in patients prescribed insulin with a sulphonylurea. One third of patients experienced at least one problem with their current treatment. The number of problems was related to the number of concomitant treatments. Hypoglycaemia, gastrointestinal problems and weight gain were the most common adverse events. These occurred most frequently in patients with severe Type 2 diabetes. This survey gives an insight into the nature of treatment, history of management, and problems associated with the current therapeutic choices for Type 2 diabetes.

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Use of community-based participatory research (CBPR) principles can help identify strategies for development and implementation of studies that can address oral health disparities disfavoring African American youth. Th is paper summarizes approaches of the Howard Meharry Adolescent Caries Study (HMACS) to provide sustained oral health services beyond the life of a research study.