Glycemic control in Kuwaiti diabetes patients treated with glucose-lowering medication

Funding

Dr. Ameera Abdullah and Dr. Abdullah Alkandari performed the data analysis and drafted the manuscript. Prof. Jaakko Tuomilehto led the study design and concept. Dr. Joseph Longenecker and Sriraman Devarajan prepared the STEPS dataset for analysis, including data cleaning and recoding variables. Dr. Ahmad Alkhatib contributed to the initial study concept. Dr. Qais Al-Duwairi was the Chairperson of the Kuwait STEPS National Coordinating Committee, and Dr. Rihab Al-Wotayan was the Principal Investigator of the STEPS study. All authors were involved in the critical approval of the manuscript. The STEPS survey was funded by the Kuwaiti Ministry of Health and supported by the World Health Organization . We thank the members of the national and regional committees and the field work teams involved in the survey. Biochemical measurements were conducted in the clinical laboratories of the Kuwait Cancer Control Center Clinical Laboratory. Appendix A This study was approved by the Ministry of Health Standing Ethics Committee for the Coordination of Medical and Health Research. Written informed consent was obtained from each participant. The study adhered to the Declaration of Helsinki ethical standards. 3