Executive Summary: Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes—2008

• ABI, ankle-brachial index
• ADA, American Diabetes Association
• ARB, angiotensis receptor blocker
• CBG, capillary blood glucose
• CHD, Coronary heart disease
• CKD, chronic kidney disease
• CVD, cardiovascular disease
• DMMP, diabetes medical management plan
• DPN, distal symmetric polyneuropathy
• DSME, diabetes self-management education
• FPG, fasting plasma glucose
• GDM, gestational diabetes mellitus
• GFR, glomerular filtration rate
• IFG, impaired fasting glucose
• IGT, impaired glucose tolerance
• MNT, medical nutrition therapy
• NPDR, proliferative diabetic retinopathy
• OGTT, oral glucose tolerance test
• PAD, peripheral arterial disease
• PDR, proliferative diabetic retinopathy
• SMBG, self-monitoring of blood glucose
• TSH, thryoid-stimulating hormone

These standards of care are intended to provide clinicians, patients, researchers, payors, and other interested individuals with the components of diabetes care, treatment goals, and tools to evaluate the quality of care. While individual preferences, comorbidities, and other patient factors may require modification of goals, targets that are desirable for most patients with diabetes are provided. These standards are not intended to preclude more extensive evaluation and management of the patient by other specialists as needed.

The recommendations included are screening, diagnostic, and therapeutic actions that are known or believed to favorably affect health outcomes of patients with diabetes. A grading system developed by the American Diabetes Association and modeled after existing methods was utilized to clarify and codify the evidence that forms the basis for the recommendations. The level of evidence that supports each recommendation is listed after each recommendation using the letters A, B, C, or E.

For more detailed information, refer to the full document: “Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes—2008.”