title: Rationale, design and baseline patient characteristics of the optimal type 2 diabetes management including benchmarking and standard treatment study in Greece.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe baseline data of the optimal type 2 diabetes management including benchmarking and standard treatment (OPTIMISE) study in Greece.
  
  
  METHODS
  "Benchmarking" is the process of receiving feedback comparing one's performance with that of others. The OPTIMISE (NCT00681850) study is a multinational, multicenter study assessing, at a primary care level, whether using "benchmarking" can help to improve the quality of patient care, compared with a set of guideline-based reference values ("non-benchmarking"). In the Greek region, 797 outpatients (457 men, mean age 63.8 years) with type 2 diabetes were enrolled by 84 office-based physicians. Baseline characteristics of this population are presented.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Hypertension was the most prevalent concomitant disorder (77.3%) and coronary heart disease was the most frequent macrovascular complication of diabetes (23.8%). Most patients were overweight or obese (body mass index 29.6 ± 5 kg/m(2)), exhibiting mostly abdominal obesity (waist circumference 102.6 ± 13.6 cm). Biguanides were the most prevalent prescribed drugs for the management of diabetes (70.1% of all prescriptions), whereas statins (93.5% of all prescriptions) and angiotensin receptor blockers (55.8% of all prescriptions) were the most prevalent prescribed drugs for hyperlipidemia and hypertension, respectively. Only 37.4% of patients were on aspirin. Despite treatment, pre-defined targets for fasting plasma glucose (< 110 mg/dL), glycated hemoglobin (< 7%), systolic blood pressure (< 130 mmHg and < 125 mmHg for patients with proteinuria) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (< 100 mg/dL and < 70 mg/dL for patients with coronary heart disease) were reached in a relatively small proportion of patients (29%, 53%, 27% and 31%, respectively). In a Greek population with type 2 diabetes, the control of glycemia or concomitant disorders which increase cardiovascular risk remains poor.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite relevant treatment, there is a poor control of diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia in Greek outpatients with type 2 diabetes.
authors.affiliation: Michael S Kostapanos, Vasilis Tsimihodimos, Moses S Elisaf, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece.
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Kostapanos
authors.affiliation: Michael S Kostapanos, Vasilis Tsimihodimos, Moses S Elisaf, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece.
authors.forename: Vasilis
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Tsimihodimos
authors.affiliation: Michael S Kostapanos, Vasilis Tsimihodimos, Moses S Elisaf, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece.
authors.forename: Moses S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Elisaf
authors.affiliation: Michael S Kostapanos, Vasilis Tsimihodimos, Moses S Elisaf, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece.
authors.forename: Emmanouil
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tzouvelekis
authors.affiliation: Michael S Kostapanos, Vasilis Tsimihodimos, Moses S Elisaf, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece.
authors.forename: Nikos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nikas
keywords: Benchmarking; Blood pressure; Diabetes; Dyslipidemia; Glycemic control; Treatment target