Endocrine Abstracts

Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and associated risk factors in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) attended in a rural primary care setting.

Methods: Cross-sectional study which included patients with T2DM followed in a rural primary care setting. Data about several cardiovascular risk factors was collected (age, sex, smoking, hypertension and dyslipidemia). Also, data about coronary heart disease (CHD) and cerebrovascular disease was gathered.

Results: Seventy-nine patients were included in this study, with a mean duration of T2DM of 5.9 years (S.D. 5), mean age 70.1 years (DE 11.8), 63.3% males, and mean BMI 30.8 kg/m² (DE 11.8). 17.7% of patients had CHD, and prevalence of cerebrovascular disease was 12.7%. Regarding cardiovascular risk factors, smoking was found in 11%, hypertension in 78.5% and dyslipidemia in 54.4% of patients.

Conclusions: Most patients with T2DM attended in a rural setting have an elevated prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and CVD is frequent, especially coronary heart disease.