Why carry out this study?

Multifactorial interventions for the improvement of glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), blood pressure and dyslipidaemia have demonstrated reductions in the risk of microvascular and macrovascular complications in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

In Japan, previous studies reporting on the real-world management of patients with T2DM are limited to information up to 2011 and to patients with a long T2DM duration who were managed mainly by diabetologists.

This study aims to describe real-world T2DM management and outcome in patients with a short duration of T2DM (median 3.1 years) who were initiating second-line treatment for a duration of 3 years until 2018.

What was learned from the study?

The achievement rates of an HbA1c target of < 7.0% and individualized HbA1c targets were 53.3% and 30.3% at 36 months, respectively, with only two cases of severe hypoglycaemia during the study period. The frequency of screening to detect retinopathy and chronic kidney disease (CKD) remained relatively low (14.5–21.0%) and the prevalence of CKD increased over the follow-up period.

The study results highlight achievements of absolute and individualized HbA1c targets with few hypoglycaemia events, and room for improvement with respect to routinely screening patients for T2DM complications, and implementation of guideline-recommended treatment protocols.