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Background: Diabetes represents one of the major health challenges in Switzerland, and early diagnosis and treatment is mandatory to prevent or delay diabetes-related morbidity and mortality. For the purpose of identifying affected individuals, early screening in pharmacies is a valuable option. In this survey, we aimed to determine blood glucose and metabolic control in an unselected population of individuals visiting Swiss pharmacies., Methods: The subjects responded to a short questionnaire and underwent a single capillary blood glucose test for screening purposes. They were classified as normal, indeterminate, impaired fasting glucose, and diabetes according to predefined blood glucose levels., Results: A total of 3135 individuals (mean age 56 years) in 18 cantons were screened in November 2010; of these, 4.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] 3.5-4.9) had previously been diagnosed with diabetes. Diabetes was newly diagnosed in 1.9% (95% CI 1.5-2.4), and 11.5% (95% CI 10.4-12.6) had impaired fasting glucose. Subjects with impaired glucose control had an increased body mass index, a frequent family history of diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, smoking, and a low level of physical activity. Prevalence of impaired glucose control was different between the French/Italian-speaking part of Switzerland (new diabetes 4.9%; impaired fasting glucose 12.7%) and the German-speaking part (new diabetes 1.9%; impaired fasting glucose 10.3%)., Conclusion: Our study shows a 6.1% prevalence of diabetes, of which about a third (1.9%) was previously undiagnosed, and 11.5% had impaired fasting glucose. Therefore, screening initiatives in pharmacies may be suitable for detecting people with undiagnosed diabetes.

Question Under Study: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of microalbuminuria (MAU) in hypertensive patients attending an office or hospital based cardiologist or internist. An additional aim was to describe associations between MAU and cardiovascular risk factors as well as to investigate the role of pharmacotherapy., Methods: International, observational, cross-sectional study of 22282 patients with 5605 attendees in Germany and Switzerland at 444 cardiology centers. Inclusion criteria were male and female outpatients, aged > or =18 years with currently treated or newly diagnosed hypertension (> or =140/90 mm Hg at rest on the day of the study visit) and no reasons for false positive dip stick tests. The main outcome measures were the prevalence of MAU, co-morbid cardiovascular risk factors or disease and their association with the presence of MAU, and the role of pharmacotherapy in modulating prevalence of MAU., Results: Prevalence of MAU in Germany and Switzerland (53.1%) was high, but lower when compared to the prevalence in "other countries" (OC, 60.2%). Routine MAU measurement was performed in 52.9% of the practices only (32.9% OC), although physicians regarded MAU to be important for risk assessment and therapeutic decisions. MAU is highly correlated with a wide variety of cardiovascular risk factors and co-morbid cardiovascular conditions including high waist circumference (55.1% [95%CI 56.0; 59.7]), diabetes (59.1% [56.8; 61.3]), atrial fibrillation (62.3% [57.4; 66.9]) and peripheral arterial disease (67.1% [61.6; 72.2]). Angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) appeared to be associated with the lowest risk of MAU (52.1%). Calcium channel blockers (CCBs) were used more frequent in patients with MAU (28.7%) than without (23.4%)., Conclusions: Patients with MAU are common in clinical cardiology and its presence is associated with a wide variety of cardiovascular risk factors and co-morbid cardiovascular conditions. A more aggressive multi-factorial treatment might help to reduce this risk constellation.