Prevalence of diabetic-hypertensive patients in the current population of Dhaka City

Abstract

Aim: Diabetes and hypertension, which share several common risk factors, are rising at an alarming rate in the population of Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. A cross-sectional study was carried out to visualize the co-occurrences of these two chronic diseases in this particular region. Subjects and methods: Parameters including complete blood count, serum lipid profile, blood pressure, serum glucose and serum creatinine level were measured to determine the prevalence of these diseases. Statistical analysis of 2000 participants aged 31–90 years was conducted, whereby 1000 participants were normal and 1000 participants had both diabetes and hypertension. Participants had attended the Bangladesh Institute of Research & Rehabilitation in Diabetes, Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders (BIRDEM) General Hospital and Labaid Hospital between June 2015 and February 2016. Result: It was revealed that most parameter levels were markedly raised in the diseased participants (p < 0.01), but the mean hemoglobin (6.92 ± 0.05), red blood cell count (3.9 ± 0.02) and high-density lipoprotein level (0.76 ± 0.01) were found to be significantly lower (p < 0.01) in diseased participants compared to normal ones. Fasting blood glucose (10.2 ± 0.11), after-meal glucose (13.15 ± 0.10), systolic blood pressure (160.78 ± 0.69), diastolic blood pressure (90.36 ± 0.31), hemoglobin (7.4 ± 0.07), total cholesterol (5.13 ± 0.03), low density lipoprotein (3.63 ± 0.03) and triglycerides (2.55 ± 0.02) were found to be significantly higher in diseased females compared to diseased males (p < 0.01, for low density lipoprotein, p < 0.05). Age-wise distribution showed that approximately 5.80% of diseased males and females were in the range of 61–65 years and 56–60 years, respectively. Conclusion: Elevated levels of the above parameters were associated with increased prevalence of both diabetes and hypertension. The results suggested that female participants were more greatly affected by these diseases. The reasons for this undesirable situation in diseased females should be inspected, and strategies should be improved to address the situation.