Control of diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia in Jordan: a cross-sectional study

To determine the level of glycemic, blood pressure (BP), and lipids control among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) attending the National Center for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Genetics and to determine factors associated with poor control.

A cross-sectional study of 1200 Jordanian type 2 DM patients was included in this study during the period of December 2017-December 2018. We reviewed the charts of these patients until January 2020. Data obtained from medical records included information about sociodemographic variables, anthropometric measurements, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), BP, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the presence of DM complications, and treatment.

The percentage of subjects who had HbA1c values of less than 7% was 41.7%. BP targets (<140/90 and 130/80 mmHg) were achieved in 61.9 and 22% of our patients, respectively. LDL targets less than 100 and 70 mg/dl or less were achieved in 52.2 and 15.9% of our studied population. Only 15.4% of our patients could have simultaneous control of HbA1c less than 7%, BP less than 140/90 mmHg, and LDL less than 100 mg/dl. Factors associated with poor glycemic control were obesity [odds ratio (OR)=1.9], DM duration between 5 and 10 years or more than 10 years (OR=1.8 and 2.5, respectively), and the use of a combination of oral hypoglycemic agent plus insulin or insulin alone (OR=2.4 and 6.2, respectively). Moreover, factors associated with uncontrolled BP (≥140/90) were male gender (OR=1.4), age 50-59 years or at least 60 years (OR=3.3 and 6.6, respectively), overweight and obesity (OR=1.6 and 1.4, respectively), insulin use (OR=1.6), and LDL at least 100 mg/dl (OR=1.4).

The overall prevalence of poor glycemic control was high and alarming. Future research should focus on capturing all variables that may impact glycemic, BP, and dyslipidemia control, with special emphasis on a healthy lifestyle that would be of great benefit in this control.