[Diabetes in private practice. Data of the INSERM national survey on private practice (1974-1975)].

Data from a national survey of private medicine in France were used to estimate the frequency of diabetes in primary care and to analyse both patient characteristics and therapeutic management. An approach was made to 2012 physicians who were requested to complete a questionnaire for each patient they saw during the course of a single day; 1103 responded and completed more than 20000 questionnaires. An additional investigation looked into the nature of the non responders. Diabetics represent 2,2% of patients in private medicine. Each year about 5,5 million consultations in private practice in France are for diabetes alone or for diabetes in association with other illnesses. 89% of diabetic patients are over 45 years of age and more than 48% older than 65. In most cases (80%), diabetes is associated with other medical problems, half of them being consequences of diabetes (cardio-vascular diseases, ocular and renal diseases). In 85% of cases, diabetics receive their basic care from a general practitioner. Therapeutic management is based mainly on drugs; diet or advice about life style are mentioned in barely one third of cases. Using linkage with social security data, it was possible to make a crude estimate of the number of diabetics in France. It was estimated at about 1 million for 52,6 million inhabitants.