Abstract

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and Hypertension (HTN) are among the most common chronic non-communicable diseases

Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted at the Primary health care clinics at king Fahad armed forces Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. A total of 1740 Saudi diabetics were randomly selected.

Results: A total of 3108 patients attending the Primary Health Care Clinics were included in this study, 1148 (36.9%) male and 1960 (63.1%) female. The diabetic group comprised of 1740 (56.0%) and non-diabetic group comprised of 1368 (44.0%) of the sample. T2DM and HTN was present in 981 (56.4%) of cases. The T2DM and HTN cases showed a female predominance (sex ratio female: male=1.5:1). The mean age of the participants was 42.2±17.9 years. Cases with T2DM and HTN were significantly older. HbA1c was not significantly different between cases with T2DM and HTN compared to cases with T2DM with no HTN. Around one third of the T2DM and HTN cases were in the age group of 50-59 years while about 38.4% were older than 60 years with both male and female predominance. 55.6% of the T2DM and HTN cases were obese BMI ≥ 30 with male predominance, Furthermore, 99.6% of cases with female predominance with BMI starting 18.5-24.9.

Conclusion: The frequency of hypertension in patients with DM in this study is high. It is mandatory to have adequate diagnostic, therapeutic and educational resources in addition to competent physicians who can manage hypertension in diabetic patients by using a continuing, comprehensive and coordinated approach.

Keywords: Diabetes; Hypertension