[Prevalence of abnormal glucose tolerance in hypertensive patients].

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus is commonly associated with hypertension; the standard oral glucose load is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The aim of this research is to show the prevalence of abnormal glucose tolerance in hypertensive patients with normal fasting glucose.

Methods: We enrolled 65 hypertensive non diabetic patients with fasting glucose < 100 mg/dL. In all of them a standard glucose load was performed.

Results: We found abnormal glucose tolerance in 32 patients (49.2 %), 29 individuals with impaired glucose tolerance, and three of them with a diabetic curve. We did not find any relation between abnormal glucose tolerance with blood pressure; however, we found a significant positive correlation between abnormal glucose tolerance and body mass index > 32.6 (R = 0.59, p < 0.005, OR 4.2).

Conclusion: Our results shown that abnormal glucose tolerance is common in hypertensive non-diabetic patients, especially in those with increased body mass index, and that fasting glucose is not an accurate screening test for diabetes in those patients.