Cardiovascular Risk Factors Among Patients with type 2 Diabetes in Rural Tanzania.

Abstract

Master thesis, Programme in Medicine. TITLE: Cardiovascular Risk Factors Among Patients with type 2 Diabetes in Rural Tanzania. Introduc.on Diabetes type 2 caused more than 5 million deaths 2013. Approximately 50% of the patients with diabetes type 2 die because of cardiovascular disease (CVD), primarily myocardial infarction and stroke. Since many of the leading risk factors for CVD coexist and act synergistically to increase the risk of cardiovascular events, it is of great importance to treat the total cardiovascular risk. Objec.ve The aim is to give a descriptive view regarding the cardiovascular status, i.e. looking at most of the leading cardiovascular risk factors, of a diabetic population in a rural setting of Tanzania. Method Patients with a confirmed diagnose of type 2 diabetes were included consecutively as they attended the combined diabetes and hypertension clinics in Rombo district, Tanzania. Every patient answered a questionnaire regarding cardiovascular risk factors. Additionally, blood pressure was measured. Random blood glucose was measured as well as waist circumference and body mass index (BMI). Results The number of patients included was 164 (134 females and 30 males). The mean values are as follow; random blood glucose 12.11 mmol/L (SD 5.8), systolic blood pressure 158.6 mmHg (SD 28.0), BMI 26.0 kg/m2 (SD 4.6) and waist circumference 93.0 cm (SD 10.5). 66% declared no physical activity and 85% were performing less that the recommended guidelines from WHO. 85.4% have never smoked and 58% stopped using alcohol after they had been diagnosed with diabetes. Conclusions and Implica.ons This group of individuals with diabetes type 2 also suffer from physical inactivity, overweight and hypertension. It is of great importance to reduce these risks in order to reduce their total risk of cardiovascular events. The low proportion of males attending the clinic as well as evaluating the cardiovascular status among in-patients with diabetes are questions that needs to be addressed in the future.