Glycemic control in adult type 1 diabetes patients from a brazilian country city: comparison between a multidisciplinary and a routine endocrinological approach.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the metabolic control of a cohort of adult type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) patients assisted in a public Diabetes Center (DC) that follows the rules of a national diabetes society. METHODS We compared for one year the metabolic control and the characteristics of 175 T1DM patients attended by a multidisciplinary team in a DC (test group) with 30 patients assisted only by endocrinologists at a public endocrinology outpatient center (control group). RESULTS The test group presented a larger proportion of well-controlled patients (p= 0.002). The proportions (test x control group) were as follows: 51.4% x 16.7% in the subgroup with A1C < 7%; 21.7% x 36.7% in the subgroup with A1C between 7.1% and 8.0%; and 26.9% x 46.7% in the subgroup with A1C > 8%. Patients assisted in the DC presented a likelihood 4.38 times higher of reaching levels of A1C up to 7%. CONCLUSIONS This study shows the effectiveness of a DC and emphasizes the importance of education, adherence and multidisciplinarity as cornerstones for the treatment, showing that in developing countries it is possible to treat T1DM with satisfactory results.