Prevalence of dyslipidaemia among diabetic patients at the Namibia Institute of Pathology, Windhoek

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is considered as one of the deadly disorders of current times. Diabetes is associated with abnormalities in blood lipids and lipoprotein levels commonly referred to as dyslipidaemia. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of dyslipidaemia in diabetic patients in Windhoek, Namibia. The inherent danger and attendant paucity of information concerning the condition in the community motivated the study. This was a retrospective study using state diabetic patient records at the Namibia Institute of Pathology (NIP) for the period between January 2016 and December 2018. Only patients with available records of Glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and lipid profiles and aged above 18 years were considered. A total of 4,332 (1800 diabetic and 2532 non-diabetic control) cases were eventually reviewed and data was reported under 8 different age groups namely; 18–25, 26–30, 31–35, 36–40, 41–55, 56–60, 61–65 and above 65 years. 58.7% of participants were female while male participants constitute 41.3%. The study revealed a prevalence of dyslipidaemia among diabetic patients with the older patients and females patients being more prone to the anomaly. Additionally, there is a strong correlation between abnormalities in lipid profile components and blood levels of glycosylated hemoglobin of diabetic patients in Windhoek. The age, gender and diabetes status of participants were statistically significant predictors for dyslipidaemia (P-values ˂ 0.05) and the odds for dyslipidaemia in diabetic patients is 1.51 times higher than the odds in non-diabetic control participant. It was concluded from the findings of this study that diabetic patients in Windhoek, especially the female and elderly ones have a high risk of developing dyslipidaemia. Improved awareness of this finding among health providers may be instrumental in improving the management of diabetes mellitus.