title: The state of lipid control in patients with diabetes in a public health care centre.
abstract: Achieving treatment targets has been difficult in treating diabetic patients. This cross-sectional study describes the lipid profiles of patients with diabetes mellitus at a public primary health care centre in Sarawak, Malaysia. The targets for lipid control were based on the International Diabetes Federation recommendation (2002). 1031 patients (98% Type 2 Diabetes) were studied. Fasting lipid profiles were available in 990 (96%) patients. The mean total cholesterol was 5.3 +/- 1.0 mmol/L, Triglycerides 1.90 +/- 1.26 mmol/L, HDL-C 1.28 +/- 0.33 mmol/L and LDL-C 3.2 +/- 0.9 mmol/L. Overall, 22% of patients achieved the treatment target for LDL-C level < 2.6mmol/L. 67% of patients had HDL-C > 1.1 mmol/L and 42% of patients had a target TG level below 1.5 mmol/L. Of the 40% of patients who received lipid-lowering drug, 17% achieved LDL-C target, 50% had LDL-C 2.6-4.4 mmol/ L and 33% have LDL-C > 4.0 mmol/L. For the remaining 60% not receiving any lipid lowering therapy, 68% had LDL-C between 2.6-4.0 mmol/L and 7% had LDL-C level > 4 mmol/L. Dyslipidemia is still under-treated despite the availability of effective pharmacological agents and the greatly increased risk of cardiovascular diseases in diabetic patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Sarawak General Hospital, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. wongjinshyan@health.gov.my
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: P Y
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001208:Asia; D003153:Community Health Services; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000097:blood / Q000503:physiopathology*; D050171:Dyslipidemias / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011634:Public Health