Characteristics of type 2 diabetes patients with overt cardiovascular diseases in Malaysia: the real-world evidence from the National Diabetes Registry.

Objective: The characteristics of diabetes patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Malaysia are not well understood, especially in terms of metabolic control and treatment profiles. We aimed to determine the characteristics of type 2 diabetes patients with CVD in public primary care clinics in Malaysia. A cross-sectional analysis of the baseline information of an established retrospective cohort dataset was done.

Results: Among 18,312 patients, 4.1% had CVD. In the multiple logistic regression model, CVD was associated with males, older age, longer diabetes duration, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, nephropathy, insulin, antiplatelet agents, and glycosylated haemoglobin A1c control. In contrast, LDL cholesterol control was less common among patients with CVD. The percentage of patients with CVD who achieved the recommended glycosylated haemoglobin A1c ≤ 8%, blood pressure ≤ 135/75 mmHg, and LDL cholesterol < 1.8 mmol/L were 59.5%, 25.3%, and 13.7%, respectively. Meanwhile, 44.7%, 25.6%, and 42.7% of patients without CVD achieved glycosylated haemoglobin A1c ≤ 7.0%, blood pressure ≤ 135/75 mmHg, and LDL cholesterol ≤ 2.6 mmol/L, respectively. Many patients did not achieve the recommended treatment targets. There are ample opportunities to optimise the quality of diabetes management in primary care settings in Malaysia.