Short term glycemic control and its determinants in type 2 diabetic patients

Abstract EN

-Objectives : to study the level of glycemic control in type 2 diabetic patients and its relation to some determining factors.

Methods : the study was conducted at the outpatient clinics of Al Gamhouria Teaching hospital and Al-Wahda Teaching hospital, Aden, Yemen, between February and May 2008.

A total of 77 type 2 diabetic patients who attended outpatient clinics were included.

Patients with acute type 2 presentation and incomplete data were excluded.

Documentation included demographic data, family history of diabetes, waist and hip circumferences (WHC), disease education, diet, exercise, smoking, khat chewing, disease duration, and methods of self-monitoring.

Venous blood was sampled for measurement of fasting plasma glucose (FPG), and glycosylated haemoglobin (HbAl).

The criteria for optimal short term glycemic control (SGC) were HbA1c <7 % and FPG 90-130 mg / dl.

Results : The mean of age was 48.52± 13.1years.

58.4 % were female and 41.6 % males.

71.4 % of the patients had FPG higher than 130 mg / dl and the remainders (28.6 %) were within the optimal range, 90-130 mg / dl.

Similarly, the majority of the study subjects (70 %, N=30) showed HbA1c level higher than the recommended target, HbA1c <7 %.

Based on optimal FPG and HbA1c, 76.7 % of the patients (N-30) had poor SGC.

In poor SGC group, the studied diabetics showed overweight (69.57 %), increment in the ratio of WHC (0.6-1.27 for men and 0.4-1.60 for women), family history of diabetes 69.57 % (p=0.05), no knowledge about the disease (65.18 %), and uncontrolled diet practice (73.9 %).

The proportion of the patients with optimal SGC was highest among those receiving one drug (71.40 %, glibenclamide); on the contrary, 56.60 % of subjects with poor control received more than one agent or were on diet management.

In conclusion, the study showed that poor short term glycemic control of the studied type 2 diabetics was predominant and related to disease education, uncontrolled diet, overweight, increased body mass index, increased ratio of waist and hip circumferences as well as family history of diabetes.