Prevalence of lipid abnormalities in Sri Lankan patients with non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the prevalence of hyperlipidaemia in Sri Lankan patients with non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) and a normal control population.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional study.

SETTING

Patients with NIDDM randomly selected from a diabetic clinic register and non-diabetic controls randomly selected from an electoral register.

PATIENTS

498 patients with NIDDM (197 females mean age 53.5, SD 6.2 years) and 253 non-diabetic controls (101 females, mean age 53, SD 5.5 years matched for age and sex.

METHODS

Diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) were excluded in the control group by a 75g oral glucose tolerance test. Total cholesterol, high density cholesterol and triglycerides were determined in fasting blood samples.

RESULTS

The prevalence of lipid abnormalities was significantly higher in diabetic patients than in controls. The prevalence of hypercholesterolaemia was 21% vs 14% and that of hypertriglyceridaemia 16% vs 8.3%. Mean fasting blood glucose was higher (9.7 + 2.7) in hyperlipidaemic patients than in normolipidaemic diabetic patients (7.5 + 2.1)

CONCLUSIONS

Hyperlipidaemias are common in Sri Lankan patients with NIDDM and screening for them should be an essential component of management of patients with diabetes mellitus.