Renal Status in Newly Diagnosed Patients with Diabetes Mellitus: A Descriptive Study in Primary Care and Opportunities for Improving Management

<b>Background/Objectives:</b> The current study aims to estimate the frequency of abnormal renal status (ARS, defined as chronic kidney disease (CKD) diagnosis in electronic medical records or current albuminuria) in people with newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus (DM), to determine the associated risk factors, and to evaluate the level of compliance with good clinical practice recommendations. <b>Methods:</b> Cross-sectional study with 1030 adults diagnosed with DM in the last 4 years. Anthropometric, clinical, analytical, and lifestyle variables were collected. Multivariate analyses were performed to determine the factors associated with ARS. <b>Results:</b> Hypercholesterolaemia, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, obesity, hypertriglyceridaemia, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) were the most prevalent comorbidities. ARS was present in 11.5% of patients. The variables associated with ARS were male sex (OR: 1.78; 95% CI, 1.16-2.75), age ≥70 years (OR: 2.96; 95% CI: 1.92-4.56), hypertension (OR: 1.59; 95% CI: 1.03-2.44), CVD (OR: 1.73; 95% CI: 1.03-2.90), and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) ≥8% (OR: 2.26; 95% CI, 1.19-4.27). Among patients with hypertension and albuminuria, 80% received angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE inhibitor) or an angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB), compared to 60% of those with albuminuria without hypertension. The 42.4% patients with ARS were treated with sodium-glucose cotransporter type 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) and 72% with statins, but only 31.5% achieved the target low density lipoproteins cholesterol (LDLc) < 70 mg/dL. <b>Conclusions:</b> ARS in newly diagnosed patients with DM is less common than described in the literature, but risk factors for its development are highly prevalent. Adherence to good clinical practice recommendations was poor, especially in LDL cholesterol targets and the use of SGLT2i.