Introduction: There is a paucity of Polish data describing the characteristics of and assessing treatment goals in patients with relatively newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to describe the baseline characteristics of patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes, who participated in the ARETAEUS1 study, and to assess to what degree diabetic control criteria recommended by the Polish Diabetes Association clinical practice guidelines are met.

Patients and methods: This cross‑sectional questionnaire‑based study was conducted from January to April 2009. It involved patients of any age and gender, diagnosed with type 2 diabetes after January 1, 2007, and recruited by randomly selected physicians, both diabetologists and non‑diabetologists.

Results: We analyzed 1714 valid questionnaires from 333 physicians: 1150 from non‑diabetologists and 564 from diabetologists. Mean age of patients was 60 years, mean body mass index – 30.6 kg/m2, proportion of females – 50%. The levels of median glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), total cholesterol and triglycerides, mean low‑density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, as well as blood pressure were above the thresholds recommended in the guidelines (i.e., <6.5% for HbA1c, <4.5 mmol/l for total cholesterol, <2.6 mmol/l [or <1.8 mmol/l in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD)] for LDL cholesterol, <1.7 mmol/l for triglycerides, and <130/80 mmHg for blood pressure). Cardiovascular disease risk factors were common: hypertension was reported in over 75% of patients, lipid disorders in nearly 75%, CHD in 27% (previous acute coronary syndrome or stable CHD), previous stroke in 4%, and previous transient ischemic attack in 5.5%. Diabetic foot was reported in 1.7% of patients, nephropathy in 7%, retinopathy in 9% (in the group of diabetologists) and in 21% of patients (in the group of non‑diabetologists).

Conclusions: We observed a relatively high prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors and late diabetes complications in patients with diabetes diagnosed within the previous 2 years.