Original Research: Evaluation of general practitioners’ routine assessment of patients with diabetes

Diabetes mellitus is a composite disease and multiple factors are involved in its development. If not managed appropriately, acute and long-term complications may compromise the patient’s wellbeing and possibly result in death. While acute complications may be detected and addressed promptly, long-term complications are insidious and not easily recognisable by the patient. The medical practitioners caring for diabetes patients should be aware of long-term complications such as diabetes retinopathy, cataracts, diabetes nephropathy, diabetic foot, which could result in amputation, dyslipidaemia, peripheral and/or autonomic neuropathy, and cardiovascular complications such as atherosclerosis, which could result in ischaemic heart disease or cerebrovascular accident.