Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death ahead of infectious diseases and cancers. The frequency of morbidity and mortality associated with cardiovascular diseases increases in the elderly and their management becomes more difficult. Hence an early and adequate management of cardiovascular risk factors is needed. The objective of this work was to determine the cardiovascular risk factors in elderly diabetics and to assess the quality of cardiovascular risk management in these patients.

Patients and methods

Retrospective study of 94 diabetic patients aged over 65 years who were hospitalized in the endocrinology department of Mahdia or followed up at the outpatient clinic between November and December 2020.

Results

The mean age was 71 ± 5 years with extremes of 65 and 90. The female predominance was remarkable. Almost all of our patients had type 2 diabetes. The mean duration of diabetes was 12 ± 8 years. Cardiovascular disease was present in 26.6% of patients. The level of cardiovascular risk was high in 39.4% of patients and very high in 41.5% of patients. The cardiovascular risk factors observed were: hypertension (73.4%), android distribution of fat (7.44%), dyslipidemia (55.3%), microalbiminuria (7.44%), obesity (29.8%), smoking (7.4%) and a family history of cardiovascular disease at an early age (3.2%). The prevention of cardiovascular risk was primary for 37.2% of our patients and secondary for 30.9% of cases. Antiplatelet drugs were prescribed in 33% of patients. The subjects who required statin treatment as recommended represented 57% of patients, of whom 92.6% were treated.

Conclusion

Our study confirmed that the management of the cardiovascular risk in the elderly diabetic patients was satisfactory and in accordance with the recommendations of ’learned societies’.