Potential Risk Factors for Cardiac Autonomic Neuropathy in Type 2 Diabetic Individuals in Rural Population of North Karnataka by Heart Rate Variability Analysis-a Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

Cardiac Autonomic Neuropathy (CAN) is one of the major complications of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) since its presence is associated with worsening prognosis and poorer life quality. Heart Rate variability (HRV) which is early detector and a sensitive cardiac indicator can be used for early detection of complications among DM patients. The risk of developing autonomic dysfunction in DM depends on several factors but most of the studies have not reported it evidently. Hence this study was undertaken to determine the potential risk factors of CAN in T2DM individuals of rural population of north Karnataka. This study was carried out at three rural Primary Health Centers under administrative control of Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Belgaum, Karnataka, India. The associations of various risk factors with prevalence of CAN among diabetes individuals were assessed by chi-square tests analysis. P value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Age, duration of diabetes, gender and diet were significantly associated with prevalence of CAN estimated by HRV analysis.