Prevalence of Diabetes Mellitus Complications among People with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Attending a Teaching Hospital in Ghana: A Clinical Audit

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a growing cause of disability and premature death, mainly through cardiovascular disease and other complications. The aim of this study were to determine the prevalence of T2DM related complications among patients with T2DM. The objectives of the study were to 1) assess the prevalence of complications among people with T2DM attending the cape coast teaching hospital, 2) to assess for any associations between diabetes complications and duration of the disease, sociodemographics like gender, age and educational level. The study was a cross-sectional study carried out at a diabetes center at the Cape Coast teaching hospital, Ghana. The study was conducted from January to May, 2014. Respondents were interviewed face to face using a structured questionnaire to collect data including sociodemographic details, diabetes diagnosis duration and diabetes complications were extracted from their medical folders. Of the 548 respondents, 156 (28.5 %) were males and 392 (71.5 %) were females with majority within the 50-59 and 60-69 age groups. The prevalence of cerebrovascular conditions, renal impairement, cardiovascular condition, peripheral neuropathy, diabetic foot disease, eye disease and erectile dysfunction were 6.5 %, 2.0 %, 3.8 %, 60.4 %, 4.9 %, 58.6 % and 31.0 % respectively. The most predominant eye condition was cataract. The prevalence of cardiovascular conditions, peripheral neuropathy, eye disease and erectile dysfunction significantly increased with duration of the illness (all p