Please cite this article in press as: K.A. Al Balushi, et al., Glycemic control among patients with type 2 diabetes at a primary health care center in Oman, Prim. Care Diab. (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pcd.2014.01.003 ARTICLE IN PRESS PCD-363; No. of Pages 5 p r i m a r y c a r e d i a b e t e s x x x ( 2 0 1 4 ) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Primary Care Diabetes j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : h t t p : / / w w w . e l s e v i e r . c o m / l o c a t e / p c d Original research Glycemic control among patients with type 2 diabetes at a primary health care center in Oman Khalid A. Al Balushi a,* , Mahmod Al-Haddabi a , Ibrahim Al-Zakwani a,b , Mohammed Al Za’abi a a Department of Pharmacology & Clinical Pharmacy, College of Medicine & Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Al-Khod, Oman b Gulf Health Research, Muscat, Oman a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 23 July 2013 Received in revised form 12 December 2013 Accepted 3 January 2014 Available online xxx Keywords: Diabetes mellitus Glycemic control Glycosylated hemoglobin A1c Oman a b s t r a c t Aims: To determine the status of blood sugar control by using fasting blood sugar (FBS) of ≤6.1 mmol/l and glycosyted hemoglobin A1c (HbAc1) of <7% as indictors of glycemic control and to assess the influence of demographic, blood pressure (BP) and lipid characteristics on glycemic control. Methods: This retrospective study included all Omani patients with type 2 diabetes (N = 177) attended a primary health care center in Al-Dakhiliya region, Oman. Results: The overall mean age of the cohort was 53 ± 12 years (range: 24–91) with females rep- resenting 60% (n = 106) of the study sample. The study found that only 9.6% (n = 17) and 35% (n = 62) of the patients attained optimal FBS and HbAc1 levels, respectively. Higher HbA1c was significantly associated with higher diastolic BP (84 versus 80 mm Hg; p = 0.006), higher total cholesterol (5.2 versus 4.7 mmol/l; p = 0.002) and higher low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (3.8 versus 3.0 mmol/l; p = 0.034). Conclusions: The results demonstrated poor glycemic control in Oman type 2 diabetic patients comparable to local and global studies especially in those hypertensive and dyslipidemic patients. Implementation of early and aggressive management of diabetes mellitus at the primary care setting is warranted. © 2014 Primary Care Diabetes Europe. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) continues to increase worldwide both in developing and developed countries [1]. The total number of people with DM is projected to rise from 171 million in 2000 to 366 million in 2030 [1]. Studies have shown ∗ Corresponding author at: Department of Pharmacology & Clinical Pharmacy, College of Medicine & Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, P.O. Box 35, Postal Code 123, Oman. Tel.: +968 24143458; fax: +968 24141107. E-mail addresses: mme51@squ.edu.om (K.A. Al Balushi), u085605@squ.edu.om (M. Al-Haddabi), ial zakwani@yahoo.com (I. Al-Zakwani), zaabi@squ.edu.om (M. Al Za’abi). that diabetes and pre-diabetes are highly prevalent among the population in the Middle East [2]. Among these countries is Oman were it ranks among the top ten countries worldwide in the prevalence of DM [3]. Two surveys that were conducted a decade apart indicated how rapidly is the rise of diabetes among Omani adults aged 30–64 years (12.2% in 1991 versus 16.1% in 2000) [2,4] . 1751-9918/$ – see front matter © 2014 Primary Care Diabetes Europe. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pcd.2014.01.003