2021 Guidelines on the management of patients with diabetes. A position of Diabetes Poland

Abstract

Since 2005, the Diabetes Poland (PTD, Polskie Towarzystwo Diabetologiczne) prepares and publishes annually its guidelines on the management of diabetic patients. The idea of guideline development was first suggested in 2004 by Prof. Jacek Sieradzki who was the president of PTD at that time. The first chairperson of the PTD Guideline Writing Group was Prof. Władysław Grzeszczak who acted in this capacity in 2005–2011, followed by the next president of PTD, Prof. Leszek Czupryniak, in 2011–2015. The guidelines are a product of a team of nearly 50 experts representing numerous medical specialties, covering all aspects of clinical diabetes care. Guideline chapters were prepared by teams coordinated by their leaders. The goal of this expert teamwork is to improve prevention, diagnosis, and management of diabetes and its complications in Poland. The PTD guidelines reflect advances in diabetology, including new clinical and experimental study findings, epidemiological observations, and registry data. Thus, some modifications and novel aspects appear every year. However, as the guidelines have always been based on the principles of evidence-based medicine, only minor changes are required, related to new knowledge from reliable research with major implications for clinical practice. In line with the principles of evidence-based medicine, levels of evidence underlying the recommendations have been introduced in some chapters of the 2017 PTD guidelines, similarly to the American Diabetes Association (ADA) guidelines.