Introduction: Diabetes is a major public health problem in
our country and complications of diabetes are a major cause
of morbidity and mortality. There is a need to quantify the
complications in order to improve our strategies for prevention
and management.
Aim: To measure the prevalence of complications in type 2
diabetics following up at a tertiary care centre and to study
its association with the socio-demographic and clinical
parameters.
Materials and Methods: A retrospective record based study was
conducted on 3261 type 2 diabetic patients on insulin therapy,
recorded in the diabetic registry maintained at Goa Medical
College from Aug 2009 to May 2012. Data on anthropometric
measurements, demographic characteristics, complications
and other details were extracted from these records.
Results: Out of the 3261 patients 1025 (31.4%) had
macrovascular complications and 1122 (34.4%) had at least
one microvascular complication. The prevalence of peripheral
vascular disease, coronary artery disease and stroke were 6.7%,
21.3% and 6.6% respectively and were significantly higher in
males. The prevalence of diabetic retinopathy, nephropathy and
neuropathy were 16.7%, 16.5% and 16.3% respectively with
diabetic nephropathy being significantly higher in males. Trend
analysis showed significant association of rising prevalence of
all complications with age (p<0.05). Duration of diabetes also
showed significantly positive trend for all complications (p<0.05)
except stroke.
Conclusion: The study presents the prevalence of diabetic
complications in patients reporting to a tertiary hospital in Goa.
Coronary artery disease was found to be the most common
complication. As age and duration of diabetes were found to
be significantly associated, efforts should be made towards
promoting earlier diagnosis of diabetes so as to improve
management and decrease the chances of complications.