High prevalence of cardiovascular disease and risk factors among type 2 diabetes patients followed in a hospital setting in Portugal: The PICT2RE observational study.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Portugal is a country with a high prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). The prevalence of CVD and cardiovascular (CV) risk factors among T2D patients followed in hospitals in Portugal is not known. The primary objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of CVD and CV risk factors among T2D patients in a hospital setting in Portugal. The clinical management of CVD in the hospital setting was also assessed. METHODS: We performed a non-interventional, multicenter, cross-sectional study with a retrospective phase. T2D patients were consecutively invited to participate. Data were collected retrospectively. RESULTS: A total of 715 patients were included in the study. Mean age and diabetes duration were 66.6 and 17.4 years, respectively. Of these, 286 patients (40.0%) had been diagnosed with CVD, mostly ischemic heart disease (50.4%). All patients had at least one CV risk factor. CVD was significantly associated with hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, hypertriglyceridemia and smoking. During the three years prior to study inclusion, the incidence of hyperglycemic episodes and T2D complications increased among patients with established CVD, but the numbers of hospitalization episodes and specialist appointments remained stable. An improvement was observed in key cardiometabolic risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: Our study revealed a high prevalence of CVD and CV risk factors among a sample of T2D patients in a hospital setting. Patients with established CVD seem to be adequately managed but further efforts are needed at the prevention stage for better control of risk factors and morbidity.

Prevalence of microalbuminuria in hypertensive patients with or without type 2 diabetes in a Portuguese primary care setting: The RACE (micRoAlbumin sCreening survEy) study.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of microalbuminuria (MAU) in outpatients with hypertension and/or type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and in normotensive, non-diabetic outpatients (control group); and, as secondary objectives, to examine the differences in the distribution of MAU in the four subgroups and the association of different clinical and epidemiological variables with MAU. METHODS: RACE (micRoAlbumin sCreening survEy) was a multicenter, descriptive observational cross-sectional study, which enrolled outpatients followed in primary care in Portugal. Patients with potential reasons for a false-positive MAU test were excluded. The main outcome measures were the prevalence of MAU as assessed by Micral(®) test strips and blood pressure. Demographic variables, presence of comorbidities, use of cardiovascular and antidiabetic drugs and biochemical variables were also analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 9198 patients (3769 with hypertension, 3100 with both DM and hypertension, 423 with DM and without hypertension, and 1906 controls), 54.7% women, were included in the primary analysis. Overall prevalence of MAU was 58% in patients with DM and hypertension, 51% in patients with DM, 43% in patients with hypertension, and 12% in controls (chi-square: p<0.001 for all subgroups). In multivariate analysis, predictors for MAU were the presence of DM or hypertension, HbA1C, male gender, age, systolic blood pressure and total cholesterol. CONCLUSIONS: MAU is extremely common in outpatients with DM and/or hypertension followed in primary care, especially in those with both hypertension and DM and high cardiovascular risk. MAU screening would help identify individuals at risk and increase awareness of kidney disease and target organ damage.