Real-world Analysis of Clinical Characteristics and Treatment Patterns in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes in the United Arab Emirates

Introduction: This real-world study examined the demographics, clinical characteristics, and treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in routine clinical practice in the UAE. Methods: Data were drawn from the Adelphi Real World Diabetes Disease Specific Programme (DSP)TM, a cross-sectional survey of physicians and their patients with T2DM in the UAE from July to October 2022. Patient data were divided into four stratification factors: physician care, HbA1c level, obesity status, and age, with factors then divided into subgroups. Results: Seventy physicians provided data for 849 patients (mean [SD] age 46.4 [10.6] years, with 31.1% of patients ≤40 years of age; 56.8% male; BMI 28.5 [4.4] kg/m2, with 27.3% of patients having a BMI ≥30 kg/m2). The mean HbA1c was 9.0% [1.1%] at diagnosis, 8.8% [1.1%] at the start of current treatment, and 7.5% [0.9%] at the last follow-up visit. Younger age, lower BMI, and shorter time since diagnosis were associated with a lower most recent HbA1c result (each p<0.0001). Overall, 84.5% of patients did not achieve the HbA1c target set by the physician post-treatment. The mean number of treatments was 1.3, and most patients (73%) only received one line of treatment. It took 3.3 years to switch patients from their previous to current therapy; only 59.7% of patients switched because of inadequate HbA1c reduction. Conclusion: Despite receiving prescribed antidiabetic treatment, a high proportion of patients in our survey did not reach their target HbA1c. High HbA1c was correlated with age, time since diagnosis, and BMI, indicating a need for more efficacious treatment, particularly for older and high-BMI patients. Use of more optimal treatments may improve glycemic control and outcomes in this patient population.