Cardiovascular Risk Assessment Among People With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Urban Slums of Central Karnataka, India

Background: The intricate interplay between type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) necessitates a comprehensive investigation into the cardiovascular risk landscape among individuals with T2DM. The burgeoning global burden of both conditions underscores the urgency of targeted research in this area, with the potential to inform preventive strategies and mitigate adverse cardiovascular outcomes. By unravelling the risk of CVD among T2DM patients and identifying key risk factors, the current research could pave the way for tailored interventions that could have the potential to substantially alleviate the cardiovascular burden associated with T2DM. Aims and objectives: To assess the cardiovascular risk and its determinants among T2DM patients. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among known diabetes patients accessing urban outreach clinic serving approximately 20,000 population across 18 urban slums in central Karnataka from September 2022 to June 2023. A pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect information on socio-demographic details and CVD risk was assessed using QRISK3 score. Data were entered in Excel 2019 (Microsoft, Redmond, WA, USA) and analysed using SPSS version 25.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) and are presented in the tables and figures. Results: A total of 483 adults above 30 years participated in the study. Among them, the majority were men (67.9%). Cardiovascular risk factors were found more among males and the 10-year cardiovascular risk assessment prediction through QRISK3 score was higher among males compared to females and it was found to be statistically significant (13.5±8.6% vs. 19.5±10.1%, p<0.001). Conclusion: According to a comparison of cardiovascular risk variables by gender among diabetic patients using the QRISK3's 10-year risk assessment, males, smokers/tobacco users, obese, and known hypertensives had significantly greater risk.