[An analysis of the diabetic population in a Spanish rural are: morbidity profile, use of resources, complications and metabolic control].

Objective: To describe the characteristics of a diabetic population, morbidity profile, resource consumption, complications and degree of metabolic control.
Design: Cross-sectional study during 2010.
Location: Four Health Areas (91.301 people) where the integrated management organization Serveis de Salut integrated Baix Empordà completely provide healthcare assistance.
Participants: 4.985 diabetic individuals, identified through clinical codes using the ICD-9-MC classification and the 3M? Clinical Risk Groups software.
Main Measurements: Morbidity profile, related complications and degree of metabolic control were obtained for the target diabetic population. We analyzed the consumption of healthcare resources, pharmaceutical and blood glucose reagent strips. All measurements obtained at individual level.
Results: 99.3% of the diabetic population were attended at least once at a primary care center (14.9% of visits). 39.5% of primary care visits and less than 10% of the other scanned resources were related to the management of diabetes. The pharmaceutical expenditure was 25.4% of the population consumption (average cost ?1.014,57). 36.5% of diabetics consumed reagents strips (average cost ?120,65). The more frequent CRG are 5424-Diabetes (27%); 6144-Diabetes and Hypertension (25,5%) and 6143-Diabetes and Other Moderate Chronic Disease (17,2%). The degree of disease control is better in patients not consumers of antidiabetic drugs or treated with oral antidiabetic agents not secretagogues.
Conclusions: Comorbidity is decisive in the consumption of resources. Just a few part of this consumption is specifically related to the management of diabetes. Results obtained provide a whole population approach to the main existing studies in our national and regional context.
(Copyright © 2012 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.)