South Asians with type 2 diabetes in an urban US Diabetes Center: A cross sectional study of clinical characteristics

Abstract

AimsTo compare baseline characteristics, anthropometric measurements, prevalence of diabetes-related complications, and Hemoglobin A1c lowering response to incretin-based therapy between South Asians (SA), African Americans (AA) and Non- Hispanic Whites (NHW) in an urban Diabetes Center in the United States. MethodsRetrospective chart review of patients with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) at the University of Maryland Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology from 2010–16 was performed. 223 adult patients (ages 18–85) with T2D were enrolled, including 41 SA (India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka), 138 AA, 44 NHW. HbA1C at the initiation of incretin therapy and at follow-up 3 months later was collected in each subgroup. ResultsComparison of baseline characteristics revealed that SA with T2D had lower BMI (28.7 kg/m2 + 5.3) compared to NHW (34.9 kg/m2 + 7.3) and AA (33.2 kg/m2 + 8.0) (p < 0.001). In terms of diabetes-related complications, there was a higher prevalence of Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) in SA (34.1%) compared to AA (17.4%) and NHW (31.8%) despite lower alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking (p = 0.028). No significant differences were noted in the Δ HbA1C changes in SA compared to other ethnicities after 3 months of incretin-based therapy. ConclusionsSimilar to previous studies, SA with T2D had lower BMI and higher prevalence of CAD compared to AA and NHW in this study. The use of incretin-based therapy in SA did not result in any significant improvement in HbA1C compared to other ethnicities.