Glycaemic Control and Complications of Type II Diabetes Mellitus - At Two Public Sector Diabetic Clinics

Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency of complications including retinopathy, nephropathy, cardiovas- cular diseases and neuropathy and to determine the relationship between poor glycaemic control and complications among diabetic patients visiting outpatient clinics of tertiary care hospitals of Karachi.
 Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted for a period of six months from April 2015 to September 2015 at the diabetic clinics of Civil Hospital and National Institute of Diabetes and Endocrinology after taking the ethical approval from the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS). Type II diabetic patients (n=400) were included through purposive sampling technique after taking written consent. Pregnant/lactating women and terminally ill diabetic patients were excluded. Data was collected through a pre-designed questionnaire. Data was entered and analyzed by SPSS
 v.21.00. Frequencies and Percentages were calculated. Regression analysis was performed to deter- mine the relationship between glycaemic control and complications of diabetes.
 Results: Out of 400 diabetic patients, 323 (90%) participants were above 40 years of age, 278
 (69.5%) were females and 122 (30.5%) were males. About 28.8% had cardiovascular complications, 19.2% had renal complications, 65.3% had visual problems and 58% experienced loss of sensation. Approximately 59.5% patients had poor glycaemic control while 39.5% had good glycaemic control. Patients with poor glycaemic control (HbA1c >8.0) were at a higher risk of developing hypertension and numbness of hands and feet.
 Conclusion: This study concluded high frequency of complications among Type II diabetes mellitus patients. Proportion of poor glycaemic control was found high. Diabetic complications were associ- ated with poor glycaemic control.