Al-Maskari et al. BMC Public Health 2010, 10:679 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/10/679 Sex Education level Nationality Occupation Age Group Table 1 Average Annual Treatment Costs in US $ by Patient Demographic Characteristics and Health Care Centre in the UAE, during 2004 (N = 150) Patient Socio Demographic Characteristics Participant Health Care Centre Mean $ Annual Cost Std Deviation N 95 55 101 48 55 48 20 26 50 4 59 35 70 42 33 3 1 10 99 38 %(95% C.I) 63.3 (55.6-71.0) 36.7 (29.0-44.4) 33% (25.5-40.5) 67% (59.5-74.5) 46% (38.0-54.0) 27% (20.2-34.4) 19% (9.0-20.4) 6% (6.8-17.2) 48% (40.4-56.0) 7% (2.9-11.1) 30% (22.7-37.3) 15% (9.3-20.7) 57.0% (49.1-64.9) 22.8% (16.1-29.6) 16.8% (10.8-22.8) 3.4% (0.5-6.3) 0.4% 7% (3.7-12.3) 59% (51.1-66.9) 33% (25.5-40.5) Tawam hospital Al-Ain Hospital Male Female Illiterate Primary school Secondary school Completed University UAE GCC Other Arabs Asians Housewife or Retired Employee Labourer Student <20 yr 20 - 39 yr 40 - 60 yr >=61 yr disease for more than 11 years and 43% were ‘insulin treated’ DM patients (Table 2). 3. Patients’ Treatment and Care Profile for DM and its related complications Patients’ attendance to the two clinics during the study period varied largely: 26% of patients visited the clinic 7-8 times, 37% paid 3-6 visits, 17% paid 1-2 visits and only 8% did not visit the clinics at all during the pre- vious year. Fifty-one percent of the population had a test for HbA1C in the previous year, 91% took a test for fasting blood sugar, 69% for fasting lipid and 69% for renal function, 63% had urinalysis, 38% were tested for urine microscopy, 49% for microalbuminuria and 29% had a 24-hour collection for proteins and creatinine clearance during the past year (Table 3). The analysis of the clinical treatment profile of DM patients during the study period showed that 54% per- cent had been admitted to hospital at least once for DM related complications, 27% were admitted twice, 9% were admitted three times or more and only 10% had not required any hospital admission. During the study period, 19% of the sample patients were admitted at least once to the emergency room (ER) due to DM complication, while 20% were taken to the ER for about 2-5 times (Table 3). Concomitant risk factors, among patients with DM related complications, were very common: 53% had high cholesterol levels, out of which 44% were on lipid lower- ing agents. Fifty-eight percent (95% CI: 50.1-65.9%) had hypertension, out of whom 54% were on antihyperten- sive treatment. Eighty-one percent (95% CI: 75.1-87.5%) had symptomatic peripheral neuropathy, 35% had a his- tory of foot or leg ulcers, and 11% had a history of amputation due to diabetes. The analysis of the clinical history of the sample population showed that 69% underwent an ECG exami- nation during the study year. Sixty percent reported a history of heart disease, 28% reported a history of heart attack and 15% had a history of heart operation(s). Twenty percent had a history of stroke of whom, 90% received treatment in the hospital ward and only 9% had physiotherapy. Thirty-three percent of stroke patients had spent at least one week in the hospital fol- lowing stroke attack and 66% spent more than a week (Table 4). Fifty-eight percent (95% CI: 50.2-66%) had diabetic retinopathy; out of whom 42% were tested for visual acuity, while 46% had eye pressure measurement 5,262 5,096 5,470 4,646 5,602 4,473 4,583 6,078 5,645 7,025 4,417 4,304 5,493 5,650 4,334 2,350 2,610 1,328 4,759 6,175 Page 4 of 10 5,980 5,779 6,028 5,609 5,747 6,388 4,880 6,567 5,966 5,532 6,016 5,405 5,876 6,759 5,260 976 1,492 1,331 5,939 6,647