Glycemic control among diabetic patients in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis

IntroductionEthiopia recorded the highest numbers of people with diabetes in Africa. It is not uncommon for diabetic patients to have poor glycemic control leading to a number of complications. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to evaluate the level of glycemic control among diabetic patients in Ethiopia by combining the studies from the existing literature.Materials and methodsThe Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines was employed to plan and conduct this review. A comprehensive electronic-based literature search was conducted in the databases of MEDLINE, HINARI, GOOGLE SCHOLAR, and SCIENCEDIRECT. Open meta-analyst software was used to perform meta-analyses. Proportions of good glycemic control among diabetic patients was calculated. Odds ratio was also calculated to check the presence of statistically significant difference in glycemic control among patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.ResultsA total of 22 studies were included in the final analysis. Meta-analysis of 16 studies showed that only one-third of patients [34.4% (95% CI: 27.9%-40.9%), pConclusionHigh proportion of diabetic patients were unable to achieve good glycemic control. There was no difference in glycemic control among type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients.