The DEAL (Diabetes En America Latina) study was a multicenter, cross-sectional, epidemiological, questionnaire based study carried out between October 2004 and October 2005 in 9 Latin American countries. General practitioners (GP) from private settings were selected for participation in the study if they were in full time active clinical practice (three or more days per week and treating at least 100 patients per week), had been practicing for at least two years and were seeing at least five type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients per week. Over a period of two weeks after receipt of study questionnaires, GPs were required to review the charts of the first 10 (+/- 2) consecutive diabetic patients to visit the clinic and to provide information about their treatment in accordance with the supplied questionnaire.