LIPID ABNORMALITIES IN PATIENTS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS AND THEIR CORRELATION WITH HbA1c LEVELS

OBJECTIVE: To determine the lipid abnormalities in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and correlate these to HbA1c levels. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Medicine, Khyber Teaching Hospital Peshawar, for six months (from 1 January 2021 to 30 June 2021). The sample size calculated was 174 using the WHO software for sample size. A non-probability consecutive sampling technique was used for sample collection. All patients of both genders with established diagnoses of type 2 diabetes mellitus or newly diagnosed diabetic population who were over the age of 20 years were included in the study. Patients on lipid-lowering agents with chronic kidney disease, chronic liver disease, or congestive heart failure, pregnant women, and hypothyroid patients were excluded from the study. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20. RESULTS: The mean age of the study sample was 50 ± 10.9 SD years. Eight-five (42.6%) were male and 115 (57.4%) were female. The mean age of males was 51.7 ± 9.8SD years and females was 48.6 ± 11.5SD years. The mean serum total cholesterol (TC) level was 183.7±51.6, the mean triglycerides (TG) level was 236.5±119SD, the mean low-density lipoprotein (LDL) level was 116±44.6SD, and the mean high-density lipoprotein (HDL) level was 38.5±9.2SD. The mean HbA1c level was 8.8±2.1SD. Mean HbA1c in both male and female populations was the same. HbA1c has a non-significant correlation with the gender of the population (P value >0.05) CONCLUSION: Gender-based differences in lipid levels were not statistically significant. Poorly controlled diabetes was associated with elevated lipid levels, but the differences were not significant. Notably, HbA1c was more closely linked to low BMI. The study found no significant correlations between HbA1c and BMI with lipid levels, while age was weakly correlated with serum cholesterol and LDL-C. KEYWORDS: Hyperglycemia, Diabetes mellitus, Dyslipidemia, HbA1c level, lipid Profile, Body mass index