Cardiovascular diseases risk prediction in patients with diabetes: Posthoc analysis from a matched case-control study in Bangladesh

This study aimed to investigate the estimated 10-year predicted risk of developing cardiovascular diseases (CVD) among participants with and without diabetes in Bangladesh. We performed posthoc analysis from a matched case-control study conducted among 1262 participants. A total of 631 participants with diabetes (case) were recruited from a tertiary hospital, and 631 age, sex and residence matched participants (control) were recruited from the community in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Socioeconomic anthropometric, clinical and CVD risk factor data were collected from the participants. The 10-year estimated CVD risk was calculated using the Framingham Risk Score, which has reasonable validity in South Asians. The mean (SD) age of the participants were 51 (10) years. Total 52.3% of cases and 17.2% of controls were at high risk for CVD. The 10-year risk of CVD increased by age and was higher among males in both groups. Among the control group, high CVD risk was more prevalent among higher education and income groups. More than 85% of the tobacco smokers and 70% of chewing tobacco users in the case group were at high risk of CVD. Prevalence of high CVD risk among non-smokers cases was 8.6%. About 35% of hypertensive participants in the control group were at high risk of CVD. Bangladeshi patients with diabetes showed a significant burden of CVD risk at a relatively younger age. Strategies for reducing tobacco use and improving BP control in people with diabetes is needed for lowering future CVD risks.