Endocrine Abstracts

The prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) is rapidly increasing. Diabetes is a silent disorder leading to disabling and fatal complications. The long-term complications of diabetes affect almost every system in the body, especially the eyes, kidneys, heart, feet and nerves. Our aim was to examine the global prevalence and major risk factors for microvascular complications among people with T2D hospitalized in Internal Medicine.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study among patients hospitalized with T2D in one year. We evaluated these patients for microvascular complications, such as nephropathy, retinopathy, neuropathy, as well as for comorbidities.

Results: A total of 204 participants were included in this study. The mean age of participants was 70.93±9.2 years old. 107 (52.5%) male and 97 (47.5%) woman. 13.7% of patients had diabetic retinopathy, 64.7% diabetic nephropathy and 25% diabetic neuropathy. There was a significant statistical relationship between these complications and HbA1C, as well as longer duration of diabetes. The most common concomitant diseases were: hypertension with a prevalence of 94.1%, dyslipidemia with a prevalence of 36.3% and CHD with a prevalence of 36.3%. Regarding the treatment of diabetes, 87.7% of patients were under treatment with insulin therapy and 15.7% with oral antidiabetics.

Conclusion: The prevalence of chronic complications was higher. Longer duration of diabetes, and poor glycemic control were predictors of chronic diabetes complications. Hypertension was the most frequent comorbidity in diabetic patients and the presence of hypertension accelerates the development of microvascular complications. It is important to achieve good glycemic control and manage comorbid diseases, to minimize the risk of chronic diabetes complications.