Prevalence and Correlates of Macrovascular Complications at Type 2 Diabetes Diagnosis in a Tertiary Hospital in Yaoundé, Cameroon

Introduction: The presence of vascular complications at type 2 diabetes (T2D) diagnosis is a heavy burden for developing countries. We aimed to determine the prevalence and correlates of macrovascular complications at T2D diagnosis in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Materials and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study at the Essos Hospital Center in Yaoundé from January 2017 to June 2021. We recruited patients newly diagnosed with T2D who, simultaneously, with assessed macrovascular complications including stroke, myocardial infarction (MI) and arterial foot ulcer (AFU). Correlates were investigated using Chi square test and logistic regressions. The significance level was set at 5%. Results: In all, 286 newly diagnosed diabetic patients (51.7% being men) were included. The mean age was 52.6 ± 12.3 years. Prevalent cardiovascular risk factors at diabetes diagnosis were a dyslipidemia (63.6%), sedentary lifestyle (57.7%) and family history of type 2 diabetes (51.6%). The prevalence of macrovascular complications was 17.5% with 8.4% stroke, 5.6% myocardial infarction and 3.4% arterial foot ulcer. Hypertension was associated with all macrovascular complications (p < 0.05). High glycated hemoglobin and age ≥ 50 years were associated with stroke while tobacco and obesity were associated with MI and AFU respectively. Conclusion: Macrovascular complications are frequent at type 2 diabetes diagnosis and are represented by stroke and myocardial infarction in our study, highlighting the importance of cardiovascular risk evaluation and reduction in people with diabetes right from diagnosis.