We observed significant inequalities in the prevalence and incidence (women only) of T2DM as a function of socioeconomic position. These inequalities were mediated by BMI.

Direct costs are 4-fold higher in diabetic than in non diabetic people, mainly due to care of the elderly and inpatient care. In developed countries, demographic changes will have a profound impact on costs for diabetes in next years.

These results suggest that the regular clinical follow-up and health education provided by the local network of diabetic centres might play an important role in confronting the adverse effects of diabetes and in reducing social differences in health.

Concerns raised by several animal studies, case reports, and pharmacovigilance warnings over incretin-based therapy potentially exposing type two diabetes patients to an elevated risk of pancreatitis have cast a shadow on the overall safety of this class of drugs. This systematic review evaluates the data from observational studies that compared treatment with or without incretins and the risk of pancreatitis. We searched PubMed for publications with the key terms incretins or GLP-1 receptor agonists or DPP-4 inhibitors or sitagliptin or vildagliptin or saxagliptin or linagliptin or alogliptin or exenatide or liraglutide AND pancreatitis in the title or abstract. Studies were evaluated against the following criteria: design (either cohort or case-control); outcome definition (incidence of pancreatitis); exposure definition (new or current or past incretins users); and comparison between patients receiving incretins or not for type 2 diabetes. Two authors independently selected the studies and extracted the data. Six studies meeting the inclusion criteria were reviewed. No difference was found in the overall risk of pancreatitis between incretin users and non-users (odds ratio 1.08; 95 % CI [0.84-1.40]). A risk increase lower than 35 % cannot be excluded according to the power calculation. This systematic review and meta-analysis suggests that type 2 diabetes patients receiving incretin-based therapy are not exposed to an elevated risk of pancreatitis. Limitations of this analysis are the low prevalence of incretin users and the lack of a clear distinction by the studies between therapy with DPP-4 inhibitors or with GLP-1 receptor agonists.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the role of clinical and socioeconomic variables as determinants of adherence to recommended diabetes care guidelines and assess differences in the process of care between diabetologists and general practitioners.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSWe identified diabetic residents in Torino, Italy, as of 31 July 2003, using multiple independent data sources. We collected data on several laboratory tests and specialist medical examinations registered during the subsequent 12 months and performed regression analyses to identify associations with quality-of-care indicators based on existing guidelines.RESULTSAfter 1 year, only 35.8% of patients had undergone a comprehensive assessment. In the multivariate models, factors independently and significantly associated with lower quality of care were age ≥75 years (prevalence rate ratio [PRR] 0.66 [95% CI 0.61–0.70]) and established cardiovascular disease (0.89 [0.86–0.93]). Disease severity (PRR for insulin-treated patients 1.45 [1.38–1.53]) and diabetologist consultation (PRR 3.34 [3.17–3.53]) were positively associated with high quality of care. No clear association emerged between sex and socioeconomic status. These differences were strongly reduced in patients receiving diabetologist care compared with patients receiving general practitioner care only.CONCLUSIONSDespite widespread availability of guidelines and simple screening procedures, a nonnegligible portion of the diabetic population, namely elderly individuals and patients with less severe forms of the disease, are not properly cared for. As practitioners in diabetes centers are more likely to adhere to guidelines than general practitioners, quality in the diabetes care process can be improved by increasing the intensity of disease management programs, with greater participation by general practitioners.