Prevalence of dyslipidemia and the associated factors among type 2 diabetes patients in Turbo Sub-County, Kenya

Abstract

Background: A large number of deaths worldwide are attributed to non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Diabetes, an important NCD, contributes to this large mortality mainly through cardiovascular complications. Cardiovascular disease in diabetes is caused by multiple co-morbid conditions; key of which is dyslipidemia.

Objectives: This study aimed to determine prevalence of dyslipidemiaand its associated factors among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus attending Chronic Disease Management clinics (CDM) in Turbo sub-county, Kenya.

Methodology: This was a cross sectional study conducted between 2015 and 2016 at Huruma County hospital and Turbo health centre CDM clinics. Data was collected from 208 randomly selected fasting participants using: structured questionnaires; laboratory investigations (lipid profile and fasting blood sugar); and health records. Data was analyzed using SAS 9.2. All variables at p ≤ 0.2 level of significance in the univariate analysis were included in the multivariate model. Using backward elimination criteria, variables that had a p value of < 0.05 were retained.

Results: A total of 179 out of 208 (86.1%) patients had dyslipidemia. Employment status [OR 3.1; (95% CI 1.3-7.5); p=0.01], BMI [OR 2.7; (95% CI 1.3-5.9); p=0.0007], FBS [OR 3.4; (95% CI 1.6-7.1); p=0.001] and physical activity [OR 4.8; (95% CI 1.1-21.2); p=0.04] were significantly associated with dyslipidemia. Surprisingly, age and being hypertensive were not associated with occurrence of dyslipidemia although the condition was more prevalent in elderly patients and those with elevated blood pressure.

Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of dyslipidemia amongst patients with T2DM in the two CDM clinics studied. Employment status, BMI, FBS and physical activity are important factors associated with dyslipidemia in these patients.There is need to prioritize research driven control and management of dyslipidemia, diabetes and related CVD risk factors plus more vigorous patient education on importance of physical activity. This should be done at both the national level and county level with government and society playing the role.Given the failure to show any association of dyslipidemia with historical CVD risk factors such as age and blood pressure, it is imperative that screening for lipids be done in all diabetes patients routinely.