PATTERN OF NON-INSULIN-DEPENDENT DIABETES-MELLITUS IN KUWAIT

The aim of this study was to examine distinctive clinical characterist ics of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) patients in Kuw ait including mode of presentation at diagnosis, family history of dia betes, therapeutic management and response to treatment, We studied 32 99 Kuwaiti patients (1454 male (M) and 1845 female (F) subjects) regis tered in Salmiya diabetic clinic, a part of the national network of di abetes control and care programme, and located in the urban Hawally Go vernorate, Kuwait. The mean age of the patients was 53 years (+/-13.9 years), and 73.8% were in the age group 45-64 years. The majority of p atients (53.6%) were diagnosed as they were clinically symptomatic; in contrast a significant minority (37.8%) were diagnosed by chance main ly during investigation for unrelated events. The 8.6% of the women di agnosed during pregnancy had a high parity index 6.5 +/- 2.9. A high p ercentage of the diabetic patients (63%) reported a positive family hi story in first degree relatives. The mean duration of diabetes mellitu s was 7.8 years (range 2-28 years) and 70% of the patients had diabete s mellitus for 9 years or less. The mean body mass index (BMI) was 31. 8 +/- 6.3 kg/m(2) and 28.5 +/- 6.3 kg/m(2) in women and men, respectiv ely. Among the diabetic women 57.7% were obese (BM > 30 kg/m(2)) and 3 0.2% were overweight (BMI 25-30 kg/m(2)) as compared to 33.6% and 44.3 % among diabetic men, respectively. High blood pressure (greater than or equal to 160/95 mmHg) was reported in 14.9%. The main therapeutic m odality in the majority of patients, (63.2%), was the administration o f oral hypoglycaemic agents (OHA), while 23.7% were on a diet regimen and only 13.1% were on insulin therapy. The study throws light on the pattern of NIDDM among Kuwaiti patients. Frequent association with obe sity suggests that it may be a major risk factor, The strong familial aggregation reported paves the way for future research among these fam ilies for cosegregation of a defined genetic trait with NIDDM in the A rab population subset.