Is Gender Important on Laboratory Variables and Complications in Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus?

Type 2 Diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is the most prevent metabolic disease. Gender differences are important in the epidemiology, pathophysiology, and treatment of many diseases. The aim of this study is to investigate the gender effect on laboratory variables and complications in patients with T2DM.

In this descriptive cross-sectional study, patients with T2DM between 35 -65 years old who referred to Diabetes Research Center, Yazd, Iran during 2018-2019 were studied. Demographic features and clinical information of patients were extracted from patients' medical records. All information and variables were examined in two groups according to gender and the data were analyzed using SPSS 19.

Totally, 1931 patients were enrolled in the study (988 females and 943 males). Most of the patients (68.6%) were treated with insulin. Body mass index was higher in women than in men. The variables of LDL (P= 0.029), triglyceride (P< 0.001) and retinopathy (P= 0.021), were significantly different between men and women.

The results of this study showed there are significant differences between male and female patients with T2DM in terms of lipid profiles and retinopathy.