Current Clinical Status and Vascular Complications among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus at Tertiary Hospitals in Malaysia
Mun Chieng Tan *
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
Ooi Chuan Ng
Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
Teck Wee Wong
Heart and Lung Centre, iHEAL Medical Centre Kuala Lumpur, Level 7 & 8, Annexe Block, Menara IGB, Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Abdul Rahman Hejar
Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
Anthony Joseph *
Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Objective: To assess the prevalence of diabetic vascular complications and cardiovascular risk factors control in type 2 diabetic patients at tertiary settings.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 313 patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) at two tertiary referral hospitals in Malaysia. Data regarding socio-demographics, macro- and microvascular complications, family health history, blood pressure, anthropometric indices, glycaemic control, and lipid profile were obtained from medical records, face-to-face interview and physical examination.
Results: The mean age of patients was 55.7±9.2 years, mean diabetes duration was 10.1±8.1 years, and 52.1% were females. Approximately 36.1% patients had cardiovascular disease (CVD). There were high prevalence of established coronary artery disease (30.7%), cerebrovascular disease (10.2%), and peripheral vascular disease (5.1%). Peripheral neuropathy, diabetic nephropathy and retinopathy were present in 41.5%, 17.6% and 15.0% patients respectively. Only 14.1% of the patients reached optimal HbA1c level and 21.1% patients achieved target fasting plasma glucose. The overall prevalence of dyslipidemia was 89.1%, hypertension was 80.2%, and obesity was 35.9% (BMI) and 86.5% (waist-to-hip ratio).
Conclusions: Diabetic vascular complications were highly prevalent among the type 2 diabetic patients. Cardiovascular risk factors control was suboptimal. Both awareness and application of recommended guidelines need to be reinforced.
Keywords: Diabetic vascular complications, cardiovascular disease, neuropathy, nephropathy, retinopathy, cardiovascular risk factors, type 2 diabetes mellitus, tertiary referral hospitals.