Pattern of dyslipidaemia among Nigerians with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Objective: To characterize the pattern of lipid profile abnormalities among Nigerians with type 2 diabetes mellitus attending the Diabetes clinic of a tertiary referral centre in Nigeria. Method: A cross sectional analysis of 192 diabetic patients consecutively recruited from patients attending the Diabetes clinic and 52 volunteering non-diabetic and non-hypertensive controls was undertaken. The main outcome measures were lipid profile and anthropometric indices. Data analysis was done with SPSS version 10. Results were expressed as mean +/- SD. Differences between groups were regarded as significant at p < 0.05. Comparisons of means, test of association were done using independent t-test, chi-square test and bivariate (Pearson's) correlation analysis. Results: Eighty-nine percent of the patients had at least one abnormal lipid profile while 64.5% had combined dyslipidaemia. Reduced HDL-C and raised TG constituted the most (88.0%) and least (25.0%) prevalent abnormalities respectively. Significant difference in the mean values of HDL-C and LDL-C was observed between the patients and controls. Conclusion: Dyslipidaemia is common among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Nigeria with majority of the patients having a combined dyslipidaemia. There is therefore the need to pay great attention to the lipid parameters in Nigerians with type 2 diabetes mellitus.