Brief report Glycaemic control is harder to achieve than blood pressure or lipid control in Irish adults with type 1 diabetes T.G. Cotter a , S.F. Dinneen a , D.A. Healy b , M.J. Bell a , A. Cunningham a , P.M. O’Shea c , F. Dunne a , T. O’Brien a , F.M. Finucane a, * a Galway Diabetes Research Centre, HRB Clinical Research Facility, National University of Ireland, Galway, Galway, Ireland b University Hospital Limerick, Limerick, Ireland c Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Galway University Hospitals, Ireland 1. Introduction Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is associated with increased all-cause and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality [1,2]. Achieving optimal glycaemic control leads to improved outcomes [3] and reduced cardiovascular morbidity and mortality [4]. Clinical practice guidelines, such as those from the American Diabetes Association (ADA) [5], outline specific targets for glycaemic control and cardiovascular risk factors in T1DM patients. However, implementing these guidelines and achieving these targets in routine clinical practice is challeng- ing [6]. Data on T1DM outcomes in the Republic of Ireland are limited, despite a relatively high prevalence [7]. We sought to describe the characteristics of T1DM adults attending an Irish University teaching hospital and to determine the prevalence of optimal glycaemic and vascular risk factor control accord- ing to internationally recognised standards of clinical practice. d i a b e t e s r e s e a r c h a n d c l i n i c a l p r a c t i c e 1 0 6 ( 2 0 1 4 ) e 5 6 – e 5 9 a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 5 August 2014 Received in revised form 9 September 2014 Accepted 15 September 2014 Available online 5 October 2014 Keywords: Blood pressure HbA1c LDL-cholesterol Type 1 diabetes Vascular risk a b s t r a c t We sought to determine the attainment of targets for glycaemic control and vascular risk reduction in an Irish cohort of T1DM adults. Of 797 patients (53% male, mean age 40.3  14.8 years, HbA1c 8.5  1.6% (69.6  17.8 mmol mol 1 )), 15%, 68% and 62% achieved targets for HbA1c, blood pressure and LDL cholesterol, respectively. # 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author at: Galway Diabetes Research Centre, HRB Clinical Research Facility, National University of Ireland, Galway, Newcastle Rd, Galway, Ireland. Tel.: +353 91 893803. E-mail addresses: francis.finucane@hse.ie, francis.finucane@mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk (F.M. Finucane). Contents available at ScienceDirect Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/diabres http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.diabres.2014.09.036 0168-8227/# 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.