[Health status of type 2 diabetics in Austria - perspective of a quality improvement initiative].
OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence of late complications in a large clinical sample of type 2 diabetic patients in Austria.


METHODS
Data of all patients with type 2 diabetes entered into the database of the Forum for Quality Systems in Diabetes Care Austria (FQSD-A) between 1 January 1997 and 1 September 2007 were used for the analyses.


RESULTS
Data from 23,641 persons with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus were collected. Patients were 66.3 +/- 11.5 years old, with an average diabetes duration of 8.0 +/- 8.5 years. Prevalence of blindness, amputation, myocardial infarction or bypass, stroke and end stage renal failure was 0.9%, 2.3%, 12.2%, 8.7% and 0.8%, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Prevalence of late diabetic complications in Austria is high compared with other European countries. The management of persons with Type 2 Diabetes should be further optimized to reduce the incidence of late complications of diabetes.
Rakovac
Ivo
I
Institut für Medizinische Systemtechnik und Gesundheitsmanagement, Joanneum Research Forschungsgesellschaft mbH, Graz, Austria. ivo.rakovac@joanneum.at
Plank
Johannes
J
Jeitler
Klaus
K
Beck
Peter
P
Seereiner
Sabine
S
Mrak
Peter
P
Bauer
Bernd
B
Pieber
Thomas R
TR