The Prevalence of Meeting A1C, Blood Pressure, and LDL Goals Among People With Diabetes, 1988–2010

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence of people with diabetes who meet hemoglobin A1c (A1C), blood pressure (BP), and LDL cholesterol (ABC) recommendations and their current statin use, factors associated with goal achievement, and changes in the proportion achieving goals between 1988 and 2010. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Data were cross-sectional from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) from 1988–1994, 1999–2002, 2003–2006, and 2007–2010. Participants were 4,926 adults aged ≥20 years who self-reported a previous diagnosis of diabetes and completed the household interview and physical examination (n = 1,558 for valid LDL levels). Main outcome measures were A1C, BP, and LDL cholesterol, in accordance with the American Diabetes Association recommendations, and current use of statins. RESULTS In 2007–2010, 52.5% of people with diabetes achieved A1C CONCLUSIONS Despite significant improvement during the past decade, achieving the ABC goals remains suboptimal among adults with diabetes, particularly in some minority groups. Substantial opportunity exists to further improve diabetes control and, thus, to reduce diabetes-related morbidity and mortality.