Epidemiological profile of type 2 diabetic patients followed at a secondary care referral center: Data from a Moroccan cohort study

Background: Type 2 diabetes is a major public health problem responsible for several macro and microvascular complications, including diabetic nephropathy. The main objective of this study was to describe the epidemiological profile of type 2 diabetic patients at admission to a reference center for chronic diseases and to explore associated factors with a glomerular filtration rate decline (GFR). Methods: This retrospective cohort study aims to examine the epidemiological characteristics of patients with type 2 diabetes who had at least one consultation between November 2005 and December 2020. Results: The study included 19,953 patients, of whom 67.8 % were women, with an average age of 58.2 ± 12.2 years. The majority (64.7 %) had a diabetes duration of less than 5 years. On admission, 37.6 % of patients had high blood pressure, 41.8 % were overweight, while 31.5 % were obese. Nearly 9 % of patients had at least one complication on admission: 2.6 % had heart disease, 2 % had nephropathy, 1.8 % had retinopathy, 0.7 % had neuropathy and 0.5 % had a diabetic foot. The study found that 76.8 % of patients had poorly controlled diabetes, and 30.1 % had a GFR 〈 60 ml/min/1.73 m². Women, patients over 65 years, those with a diabetes duration 〉 30 months, hypertensive patients, those with at least one complication on admission, patients with overweight or obesity, and those with positive albuminuria had significantly lower GFR (p