title: Prevalence of chronic complication among type 2 diabetics attending primary health care centers of Al Ahsa district of Saudi Arabia: a cross sectional survey.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The morbidity and mortality related to diabetes is a great global concern. The knowledge of chronic complications of diabetes and associated co morbidity factors is very important for formulating the necessary policies and action plan.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prevalence of chronic complications and comorbidity among the type 2 diabetics attending the primary health care centers of Al Ahsa district of Saudi Arabia.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross sectional retrospective survey was carried out on 506 type 2 diabetic patients attending the different primary health care centers of ministry of health, Al Ahsa. Data regarding the co morbidity factors and chronic complications were recorded from the health records of the selected diabetic patients. Data analysis was done by SPSS version 16. A p < 0.05 was considered significant for all statistical calculations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall 72.72% (95% CI 69.78-74.45) of the study subjects were suffering from one or more complications of diabetic mellitus. Among them 33.39% (165) were suffering from single, 25.29% (128) with two and 15% (75) from more than two complications. The overall prevalence of complication among the female subjects was significantly higher than the male (78.16%, 95% CI 76.76-84.40 Vs 65.76%, 95% CI 61.63-69.89, p=.038). The chronic complication was higher among the urban population than the rural population (77.3% 95% CI 72.88-80.26 Vs 69.78% 95% CI 66.1%-76.92%, p=.035).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The result showed a high percentage of chronic complications among the diabetic patients of this region. The high percentage of obesity, hypertension and dyslipidaemia among them are important co morbidity factors which if not controlled can cause further increase in the number of chronic complications.
authors.affiliation: Al Omran Primary Health Care Centre. tanyaata@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Ataur Rahman
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Zaki Naser
authors.initials: ZN
authors.lastname: Al Abdul Lateef
authors.forename: Shaheen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fatima
authors.forename: Sana Abdullah Ahmad
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Al Yousuf
authors.forename: Syed Zakaullah
authors.initials: SZ
authors.lastname: Khan Afghan
authors.forename: Salah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Al Marghani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001786:Blood Glucose; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D048909:Diabetes Complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology; D012737:Sex Factors
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D008055:Lipids