Article
Adaptation of type Diabetes Guideline for Primary Care, Saudi Arabia
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Published: | July 10, 2012 |
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Diabetes is a serious condition with potentially devastating complications. The impact of diabetes is felt in both developed and developing countries. Local studies show that the overall prevalence of diabetes in adults aged 30 years or more is 24%. Thus, Saudi population can be regarded as a moderate to high risk population for diabetes mellitus. A survey seeking the opinions of primary care physicians on the most important guidelines needed ranked Diabetes guideline highest. It is the most frequently encountered chronic disease in primary care. A search for international guidelines began. Guidelines had to be recent to be considered for adaptation. The highest scoring guideline in most domains of the AGREE was NICE, followed by the Canadian guideline, while the ADA scored quite low. The main guideline used for adaptation was the NICE, while the rest were used to fill the gaps. The guideline contents were analyzed. The developers looked at the sources of evidence and the quality of recommendations. The SORT taxonomy was used to classify LOEs. Gaps were identified and when answers were not found in the other guidelines, other sources of evidence were used to fill the gaps. The guideline included screening, diagnosis, management (both pharmacological and non-pharmacological, and managing complications. It also included areas specific to primary care, such as when to refer patients. Overall, the adaptation process highlighted important gaps for research in Saudi Arabia.