Al-Shamsi S, et al. - In this retrospective cohort study involving 583 adult United Arab Emirates nationals with diabetes, the fraction of deaths and potential years of life lost (PYLL) attributable to non-optimal HbA1c control were determined. HbA1c ≥ 6.5% defined non-optimal HbA1c control. Deaths of 14.8% of participants were reported during the 9-year follow-up period. Up to one-third of these deaths seemed to be attributable to non-optimal HbA1c control. Stratified by sex, the adjusted fraction of avoidable mortality was 17% and 50% for men and women, respectively. Women vs men exhibited higher deaths and PYLL attributable to non-optimal HbA1c control. The findings thus highlighted the urgent necessity for implementation of effective sex-specific interventions and healthcare quality-improvement programs.