Sex differences in cardiovascular risk factors among people with type two diabetes

Background: Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus is associated with various risk factors, which accelerates the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The increased relative risk for CVD due to diabetes is greater in women than in men. Aims and objectives of this study were to study the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors among type 2 diabetes patients and to assess the sex differences in the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors among type 2 diabetes patients. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed among the 500 adult (>15 years) patients of type 2 diabetes who attended Department of Medicine, SGRDIMSR, Amritsar and were assessed for the presence of various CVD risk factors and the prevalence of these was compared between both sexes. Results: The most prevalent CVD risk factor among 500 patients of type 2 DM was high HBA1C levels which was present in 67.2% of the study population. It was followed by obesity (which had prevalence of 66.2%), dyslipidaemia (i.e. high triglyceride levels - 64.8% and low HDL levels - 65.6%) and microalbuminuria along with macroalbuminuria (65.4%). Diabetic males had microalbuminuria (along with macroalbuminuria) as the most prevalent CVD risk factor (69.03%), followed by alcohol consumption (63.18%) and abnormal waist circumference (61%). On the other hand, the most prevalent CVD risk factor among female diabetics was high HBA1C (77.4%) followed by obesity (77.0%) and dyslipidaemia-hypertriglyceridemia (75.1%) and low HDL levels (70.5%). Conclusions: Cardiovascular risk factors were highly prevalent among patients with type 2 diabetes attending department of medicine, SGRDIMSR, Amritsar with different risk profiles among diabetic male and females. A gender-sensitive approach is required in planning interventions (counselling and treatment) to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in diabetes.