Prevalence and clinical profile of metabolic syndrome among type 1 diabetes mellitus patients in southern India.

Aim: To assess the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) among patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus(T1DM) and to look at prevalence of diabetes complications in T1DM with and without MetS.

Methods: We studied 451 T1DM patients attending a tertiary diabetes centre in Chennai, South India. T1DM was diagnosed based on absence of beta cell reserve and requirement of insulin from the time of diagnosis. Data on clinical and biochemical characteristics as well as complications details to study the prevalence were also extracted from electronic records. T1DM patients were divided into those with and without MetS[diagnosed according to the harmonizing the metabolic syndrome criteria(IDF/NHLBI/AHA/WHF/IAS/IASO)].

Results: The overall prevalence of MetS among T1DM was 22.2%(100/451). Patients with MetS were older, had longer diabetes duration, acanthosis nigricans, and increased serum cholesterol. In the unadjusted logistic regression analysis, retinopathy, nephropathy and neuropathy were associated with MetS. However after adjustment for age, gender, diabetes duration, HbA1C and BMI significant association was seen only between MetS and retinopathy [odds ratio (OR) 2.82, 95% CI 1.18-6.74, p = 0.020] and nephropathy [OR 4.92, 95% CI 2.59-9.33, p < 0.001].

Conclusion: Prevalence of MetS is high among Asian Indian T1DM patients, and its presence is associated with increased risk of diabetic retinopathy and nephropathy.