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Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency of hypertension and proportion of patientsachieving good control of blood pressure (BP) and to examine the relationship ofBP control with different variables in type 2 diabetes.Methodology: This prospective observational study was conducted atDepartment of Medicine, 1 Mountain Medical Battalion (Bagh, Azad Kashmir)from April to December 2013. This study was done on diabetic patients. Historyof previously diagnosed hypertension/ use of any antihypertensive medicineswas obtained. BP was measured twice in an upright position and the meancalculated; values <140/90 mmHg reflected good control. Data analysis wascarried out with STATA version 12.Results: Out of 178 patients, 72 (40.45%) had hypertension which was morecommon in females than males (48.51% vs. 29.87%; p=0.012). A singleantihypertensive was used in 37 and two drugs in 35 patients but BP was at goalin only 33 (45.83%) patients. Plasma glucose fasting was ≤7.0mmol/l in 46(25.84%) patients. HbA1cwas <7% in 14 (20.29%) out of 69 patients. Amongstthe two groups with good and poor control of BP, there was no difference inproportions of elderly (p=0.705), males (p=0.212), more educated patients(p=0.316) or smokers (p=0.868).Proportions of patients with diabetes orhypertension of more than 5 years duration were also similar as were fractions ofpatients with increased BMI (p=0.339)or waist circumference(p=0.077),elevated fasting plasma glucose (p=0.488) or HbA1c (p=0.509).Conclusion: Hypertension is frequently encountered in diabetics. A moreaggressive treatment approach is required to achieve a better control of bloodpressure.