Published online Jun 15, 2013. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v4.i3.82
Revised: April 21, 2013
Accepted: May 9, 2013
Published online: June 15, 2013
AIM: To determine the frequency of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and its risk factors among patients with type 2 diabetes in Basrah, Iraq.
METHODS: Participants in this cross-sectional study were patients who had type 2 diabetes for at least 1 year, presenting at the Al-Faiha Diabetes Endocrine and Metabolism Center in Basrah (Southern Iraq) over the period from January to December 2008.
RESULTS: The series included 1079 patients (58.8% men), of whom 25.0% were smokers. The prevalence of symptomatic cardiovascular disease and hypertension was 16.0%, and 44.3% respectively. Those who were overweight or obese constituted 70.5%. Insulin was used in only 26.9% despite 56.1% having had diabetes for 6 years and more. The mean glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) was 9.46% ± 2.0% and only 5.5% achieved the target of HbA1c of < 7%. We had 68.7% of patients with total cholesterol of ≥ 200 mg/dL, 21.5% with high density lipoprotein cholesterol of < 40 mg/dL, 84.1% with low density lipoprotein cholesterol of ≥ 100 mg/dL and 71.6% with triglyceride of ≥ 150 mg/dL.
CONCLUSION: Among adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus, there was increased frequency of cardiovascular disease and its modifiable risk factors. This finding necessitated urgent work to modify these risk factors in a population based setting.
Core tip: Atherosclerotic cardiovascular complications are mainly responsible for the high morbidity and mortality in people with diabetes. We studied 1079 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus to determine the frequency of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and its risk factors. The main finding of this study was an increased frequency of cardiovascular disease and its modifiable risk factors among patients with type 2 diabetes in Basrah, Iraq.