High Blood Pressure, FBS and LDL-C among Diabetic Iranians

Control of blood pressure, fasting plasma sugar (FPS) and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) reduces to vascular complications of diabetes. In this study we determined the prevalence of diabetic individuals with uncontrolled blood pressure, FPS and LDL-C.

We used data from three national Surveys of Risk Factors of Non-Communicable Disease (SuRFNCD) conducted in 2007, 2011 and 2016. Participants were 4493 adults, aged 25-65 years, who self-reported a previous diagnosis of diabetes. Logistic regression was used to determine p-value for trends of prevalence rates.

From 2007 to 2016, significant reductions in the prevalence of individuals with high blood pressure from 48.2 % to 40.4 % (47.3 % to 37.4 % in men and 53.0 % to 41.5 % in women) and also in those with high LDL-C levels from 75.4 % to 46.7 % (73.2 % to 45.7 % in men and 77.4 % to 48.3 % in women) were observed. Only women showed a significant decrease in the prevalence of those with high FPS.

Despite significant improvements during the last decade, achieving goals of these risk factors remains suboptimal among Iranian adults with diagnosed diabetes. Considerable further improvement is needed to control and reduce future vascular complications.