High Prevalence of Additional Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Eastern-Indian Young Adults with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The American Diabetes Association recommends statin therapy for young type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) adults only if one additional cardiovascular (CV) risk factor coexists. The data regarding CV risk factors in young Indian T2DM adults is limited. Hence, we assessed the prevalence of CV risk factors in young adults with T2DM from eastern India. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, diabetic medical health check records of eastern-Indian T2DM patients performed between March 2018 and March 2019 were retrospectively reviewed and the relevant data of T2DM patients (n = 3564) including CV risk factors [serum LDL-cholesterol of ≥100 mg/dL, hypertension (>140/90 mmHg), smoking, chronic kidney disease (eGFR of <60 ml/min), microalbumin to creatinine ratio of ≥30 mg/mg, and obesity/overweight (body mass index ≥23 kg/m(2))] were analysed. RESULTS: There were 3280 T2DM patients from eastern India and 679 (20.7%) were ≤40 years of age. Overweight/obesity (74.3%) and serum LDL-cholesterol of ≥100 mg/dL (69.2%) were the two most common additional CV risk factors. At least one additional CV risk factor was present in 576 (95.36%) patients, whereas at least two additional CV risk factors were present in 409 (67.7%) patients. At least one non-obesity/overweight CV risk factor was present in 472 (78.1%) patients. CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrates a high prevalence of additional CV risk factors in young eastern-Indian adults with T2DM. Hence, there is a need for an intensive approach to managing the CV risk factors in young Indian adults with T2DM.