Publication:

Obesity and poor glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes

Background Diabetic patients are extremely recommended to control their blood glucose levels below the standard targets. This study was aimed to evaluate the association between obesity status and poor glycemic control in these patients.

Methods Type 2 diabetic outpatients (n=157) from a diabetes clinic in Ahvaz were recruited for the study. Patients who had insulin therapy were excluded from participants. Weight, height and BMI were recorded for each participant. Obesity status was defined by BMI. Glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) was measured in fasting blood samples to estimate glycaemia status.

Results Mean age of participants was 54.47±9.39 years and mean BMI was 29.26±5.04 kg/m2. Poor glycemic control (HbA1c≥7%) was observed in 63.7% of participants. The rate of poor glycemic control in obese group was 60.3% and there was no correlation between obesity and poor HbA1c control using logistic regression we found no association between obesity and poor glycemic control (OR=0.796; p=0.504). Obese patients had lower education level than non-obese patients (p=0.035). Females had higher poor glycemic control than males; however, it was not significant (62% vs. 50% in obese and 68.5% vs. 62.2% in non-obese groups).

Conclusions More than half of participants had poor glycemic control. Obese patients had similar rate of hyperglycemia to non-obese ones. Lower educational level was contributed to obesity. Underlying risk factors for poor glycemic control status in diabetic patients are still unclear.