Association of Blood Glucose and Lipid Profile Concentrations in Diabetic Patients Attending Gisenyi District Hospital in Rwanda: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Poor glycemic monitoring of type 2 diabetes mellitus has been linked with dyslipidemia and this led to
an augmentation of mortality in diabetic patients. This study assessed the association of blood glucose and serum lipid
concentrations in type 2 diabetic patients at Gisenyi District Hospital in Rwanda.
Methods: This investigation was cross-sectional and used the Cochran formula (n = Z2PQ/d2) to estimate the number
of participants. Predisposing aspects of dyslipidemia such as age, gender, blood pressure, and BMI were obtained
from the participants. Blood glucose was tested in capillary blood samples using Accu-Check Aviva and lipid profiles
were checked in blood serum drawn from each participant, using Cobas C311. Ranges for dyslipidemia considered
were: TC < 200 mg/dl, TG < 150 mg/dl, LDL-C < 100 mg/dl, 51-60 mg/dl for females, and HDL-C 41- 60 mg/
dl for males. A transformed Friedewald formula was utilized to quantify LDL-C. The chi-square test (X2) was considered
to investigate the association between categorical variables, whereas Pearson’s coefficient was utilized to find out the
correlation between continuous variables.
Results: A significant association was noted between the BMI and hyper TC (X2 = 9.936; p =.001), hyper TG (X2 =
10.761; p = .001), and hyper LDL-C (X2 = 10.410; p = .001), whereas the association was not significant with low
HDL-C (X2 = 2.416; p = .137). A positive significant correlation was noticed between blood glucose and TC (r = 0.678,
p = 0.000) and between blood glucose and LDL-C (r = 0.293, p = .039). A positive no-significant association was
noted between blood glucose and TG (r = 0.163, p = .259), whereas a negative no-significant link was between blood
glucose and decreased HDL-C (r = -0.126 p = .381).
Conclusion: A significant association was noted between the BMI and TG, TC, and LDL-C, but the link with HDL-C was
not significant as it was for age, gender, and blood pressure with serum lipids. Blood glucose levels were positively
linked with TG, TC, and LDL-C levels, but negatively linked with HDL-C. Thus, poor control of type 2 diabetes results in
increased serum concentrations of harmful lipids.