Risk factor profile and the occurrence of microvascular complications in short-term type 2 diabetes mellitus at...

Type 2 diabetes has a long pre-clinical period before diagnosis, during which there may be development of complications, both of microvascular and macrovascular types.

To determine the risk factor profile of hyperglycaemia, hypertension and dyslipidaemia in patients with short-term (=/ < 2 years) type 2 diabetes.

Cross-sectional descriptive study over six months.

Outpatient diabetic clinic of Kenyatta National Hospital.

Ambulatory patients with type 2 diabetes.

One hundred patients were included. The mean (SD) duration of diabetes was 10.3 (7.5) months. There were 66% of the study subjects with obesity, 50% with hypertension, 29% had ideal glucose control and less than 40% had high LDL-cholesterol. Twenty eight (28%) who had polyneuropathy had significant differences in their older age, higher total and LDL-cholesterol compared with those who did not have polyneuropathy. Twenty five (25%) of the study patients had micro-albuminuria and only 1% had macro-albuminuria. There were no significant differences in the selected characteristics between study patients with and those without albuminuria. Only 7% of the study patients had retinopathy on direct ophthalmoscopy.

Microvascular complications occurred in patients with type 2 diabetes of short duration of not more than two years. The risk factors of hypertension, poor glycaemic control, dyslipidaemia and cigarette smoking were present in a fair proportion of the study patients. Patients with type 2 diabetes should be actively screened for complications and the risk factors thereof, even if the diabetes was of recent onset.