Epidemiology, management and costs of type 2 diabetes in France in 1998

Almost 10 years after the Saint Vincent declaration, a large effort was und ertaken in France to improve medical care of type 2 diabetes and to limit t he dreadful complications of this pathology As expert recommendations grow in number, it appears necessary to update knowledge on the epidemiological, medical care, and cast aspects of this illness in France. In this aim, a systematic review of the medical and economic literature on type 2 diabetes was performed. Prevalence of type 2 diabetes probably reaches 2.2 % in the general populat ion, which represents 1.3 million people in France. Among these people, alm ost 60 % are overweighted, 50 % stiffer high blood pressure and 30 % have a treated dyslipaemia. Coronary pathologies concern 20 % to 30 % of type 2 d iabetes patients, neuropathies 10 % to 30 % and ocular problems 10 % to 35 %. Medical care consumption of type 2 diabetes patients probably represents almost 20,000 FF per patient and per year. i.e., twice the average medical care consumption in the French population. Yet, these estimates should be considered with caution since a lot of uncer tainty remains on the epidemiological, medical care, and cost aspects of ty pe 2 diabetes in France. As diabetes has become a national public health pr iority, it is important to initiate new studies to have precise indicators in these different fields.