INTRODUCTIONDiabetes mellitus is a burgeoning global health epidemic, with an estimated 422 million people living with diabetes in 2014. The number of adult diabetic patients in Singapore is expected to rise to 1 million in 2050. Despite advances made in the management of diabetes and improvements in healthcare accessibility and delivery, the rate and complications of diabetes (myocardial infarction, stroke, kidney failure and lower limb amputation) in Singapore have not decreased. Gaps between guidelines and practice have been reported in several parts of the world. In this narrative review, we aimed to describe the control of diabetes in Singapore over the past 20 years.

MATERIALS AND METHODSWe reviewed studies describing, or trials intervening in, the glycaemic, blood pressure (BP) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) control of adult diabetic patients in Singapore published over the past 20 years (1997-2016). Studies selected from comprehensive electronic databases searches were reviewed by 4 reviewers (2 primary care physicians, 1 diabetologist and 1 public health epidemiologist). The GRADE approach was used to evaluate the quality of evidence.

RESULTSWe included 23 articles involving 257,097 subjects. There were 9 longitudinal, 12 cross-sectional and 2 case-control studies. All studies reported mean/median HbA1c between 7.2%-8.6%. BP ranged between 126.5-144 mmHg (systolic) and 70-84 mmHg (diastolic) in 9 studies. Nine studies reported LDL-C between 2.4-3.3 mmol/L.

CONCLUSIONMirroring global patterns, the glycaemic, BP and LDL-C control in adult diabetic patients in Singapore do not appear to be treated to target in the majority of patients.