Prevalence of lipid abnormalities in Sri Lankan patients with non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of hyperlipidaemia in Sri Lankan patients with non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) and a normal control population.

Design: A cross-sectional study.

Setting: Patients with NIDDM randomly selected from a diabetic clinic register and non-diabetic controls randomly selected from an electoral register.

Patients: 498 patients with NIDDM (197 females mean age 53.5, SD 6.2 years) and 253 non-diabetic controls (101 females, mean age 53, SD 5.5 years matched for age and sex.

Methods: Diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) were excluded in the control group by a 75g oral glucose tolerance test. Total cholesterol, high density cholesterol and triglycerides were determined in fasting blood samples.

Results: The prevalence of lipid abnormalities was significantly higher in diabetic patients than in controls. The prevalence of hypercholesterolaemia was 21% vs 14% and that of hypertriglyceridaemia 16% vs 8.3%. Mean fasting blood glucose was higher (9.7 + 2.7) in hyperlipidaemic patients than in normolipidaemic diabetic patients (7.5 + 2.1)

Conclusions: Hyperlipidaemias are common in Sri Lankan patients with NIDDM and screening for them should be an essential component of management of patients with diabetes mellitus.