Lack of Awareness and Treatment of Hyperlipidemia in Type II Diabetes in a Community Survey

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of morbidity, disability, and death among patients with type II (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus. Moreover, hyperlipidemia is also common among these patients. Despite this, there are virtually no data regarding the level of awareness and treatment of hyperlipidemia among diabetic subjects at the community level. We therefore examined 374 Mexican-Americans and 86 non-Hispanic whites with type II diabetes identified in an epidemiologic survey that involved 3279 Mexican-Americans and 1847 non-Hispanic whites who resided in San Antonio, Tex. More than 40% of the diabetic subjects were hyperlipidemic according to the criteria of the National Cholesterol Education Program, and an additional 23% had hypertriglyceridemia and/or low levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. By contrast, less than one fourth of the nondiabetic subjects were hyperlipidemic. Only approximately 25% of non-Hispanic whites with diabetes were aware of their hyperlipidemia, and less than 10% were receiving treatment. Awareness and treatment were even less frequent among Mexican-Americans with diabetes. Community physicians should be encouraged to give early attention to the management of lipid disorders in their diabetic patients.