FREQUENCY OF METABOLIC SYNDROME IN TYPE-2 DIABETES MELLITUS

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of coronary risk factors such as diabetes and pre-diabetes, abdominal obesity, high triglyceride (TG), low high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) levels and high blood pressure (BP). It is estimated that around a quarter of the world’s adult population have MetS and they are twice as likely to die from it and three times as likely to have a coronary event or stroke compared with people without the syndrome. Methods: This observational descriptive study was conducted at the Department of General Medicine, Federal Government Polyclinic Islamabad. All type-2 diabetics presenting in the outpatient and inpatient department during 11 months between the ages of 30–80 were enrolled. They were interviewed, blood pressure, waist circumference, fasting blood glucose, and lipid profiles were checked. Results: Of the 300 patients 165 (55%) were females and 135 (45%) were males with mean age 52.47±11.24 years. The mean duration of Diabetes Mellitus was 7.38±3.85 years. Metabolic Syndrome was present in 83% of the study population, 129 (43%) were male and 171 (57%) were female. The p -value was statistically significant on comparing the presence of the Metabolic Syndrome with waist circumference, serum triglyceride levels, and blood pressure as it was <0.05. The most commonly occurring finding was a decreased HDL-cholesterol in both genders. Conclusions: The MetS was present in 83% of the diabetic population, mostly in females with decreased HDL-cholesterol being the most common in both genders.