Glycaemic control amongst persons with diabetes mellitus in Benin City

Objective: This study set out to find the level of glycaemic control amongst persons with diabetes mellitus in Benin City. Methods: Forty two persons with diabetes had their glycaemic control assessed by measuring the level of their glycated hae-moglobin. Other data collected included age, sex, duration of diabetes, type of diabetes, weight, height, body mass index and waist hip ratio. Results: There were twenty four males and eighteen females in the study population. Thirty one subjects had type 2 diabetes, while eleven had type 1 diabetes. Nineteen subjects (46%), had poor glycaemic control (HbAic > 7%) while twenty three (54%) had good control (HbAic ͳ 7%). Thirteen males (54%) had good control while ten females (53%) had good control and this was not statistically significant (p>0.05). Eighteen of the thirty-one type 2 DM subjects (58%) had good glycaemic control, while five persons out of eleven with type 1 DM (45%) had good glycaemic control and this was not statistically significant (p>0.05). Conclusion: This study has shown that poor glycaemic control is common amongst persons with diabetes mellitus in Benin City. Studies have shown that good glycaemic control prevents and delays the complications of diabetes mellitus. We therefore recommend that health education on the benefits of good glycaemic control should be given in diabetes clinics, and ef-forts intensified to achieve target glycated haemoglobin levels to prevent diabetes complications

Metabolic syndrome in type 2 diabetes: comparative prevalence according to two sets of diagnostic criteria in sub-Saharan Africans

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Available definition criteria for metabolic syndrome (MS) have similarities and inconsistencies. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of MS in a group of Cameroonians with type 2 diabetes, according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the National Cholesterol Education Programme Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP-ATP III) criteria, and to assess the concordance between both criteria, and the implications of combining them.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We collected clinical and biochemical data for 308 patients with type 2 diabetes (men 157) at the National Obesity Center of the Yaounde Central Hospital, Cameroon. Concordance was assessed with the use of the Kappa statistic.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mean age (standard deviation) was 55.8 (10.5) years and the median duration of diagnosed diabetes (25^th–75^th percentiles) was 3 years (0.5–5.0), similarly among men and women. The prevalence of MS was 71.7% according to the IDF criteria and 60.4% according to NCEP-ATP III criteria. The prevalence was significantly higher in women than in men independently of the criteria used (both <it>p</it> < 0.001). Overall concordance between both definitions was low to average 0.51 (95% confidence interval: 0.41–0.61). Combining the two sets of criteria marginally improved the yield beyond that provided by the IDF criteria alone in men, but not in the overall population and in women.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The IDF and NCEP-ATP III criteria do not always diagnose the same group of diabetic individuals with MS and combining them merely increases the yield beyond that provided by the IDF definition alone. This study highlights the importance of having a single unifying definition for MS in our setting.</p