Chronic Microvascular Complications in Sulfonylureas-Treated Diabetic Patients: Correlations with Glycemic Control, Risk Factors and Duration of the Disease

<b>Background</b>: Diabetes has become one of the most challenging public health problems due to the alarming increase in prevalence and the morbidity and mortality attributed to its acute and chronic complications. <b>Objective:</b> This study aimed to investigate the development of chronic microvascular complications in sulfonylureas-treated diabetic patients and their correlations with glycemic control, risk factors and duration of the disease. <b>Methods</b>: This study included 200 patients that presented to "Providența" Medical Center, Iași. The information was obtained in a retrospective manner based on the observation sheets of the patients. A database was created, analyzed and statistically processed using the <i>Microsoft Excel software</i> (Version 15) and the <i>chi-square test of independence</i>. <b>Results</b>: The prevalence of diabetic polyneuropathy was 33.5%, while diabetic retinopathy was found in 27% of cases. For diabetic polyneuropathy, the results of the statistical analysis demonstrated a statistically significant dependence of the risk factors hyperlipidemia (significance level = 0.01) and overweight/obesity (significance level = 0.05). For diabetic retinopathy, the results demonstrated a statistically significant dependence of the risk factors hypertension (significance level = 0.05) and hyperlipidemia (significance level = 0.01). <b>Conclusions</b>: The present study reveals a strong correlation between the presence of risk factors and the development of microvascular complications of diabetes.