Introduction

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) has been actively involved in the development and dissemination of diabetes care standards, guidelines, and related documents for many years. These statements are published in one or more of the Association’s professional journals. This supplement contains ADA’s “Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes,” our major position statement, which contains all or key recommendations. In addition, contained herein are selected position statements on certain topics not adequately covered in the “Standards.” We hope that this is a convenient and important resource for all health care professionals who care for people with diabetes.

ADA Clinical Practice Recommendations consist of position statements that represent official ADA opinion as denoted by formal review and approval by the Professional Practice Committee and the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors. ADA Statements, consensus statements, and technical reviews are not official ADA recommendations; however, they are produced under the auspices of the Association by invited experts. These publications are reviewed by the Professional Practice Committee for general content and used as source documents for the updating of the “Standards.”

ADA has adopted the following definitions for its clinically related reports.