Pulmonary Function in a Sample of Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Two Teaching Hospitals in Baghdad

The effect of diabetes mellitus on pulmonary function has been scarcely investigated & assessed in Iraq. The current study is an attempt to assess some of the pulmonary mechanical function in a sample of type two diabetes mellitus in comparison with an equal number of non diabetic individuals in two teaching hospitals in Baghdad. It also attempts to assess these pulmonary functions among type 2 diabetic patients and identify the risk of some factors on pulmonary functions among diabetics and non diabetics.
A case control was conducted through taking a sample from type 2 diabetic patients attending the consultation clinics in two teaching hospitals & an equal number of non diabetics as a control. Data collection was carried out during the period from 17th January to the end of July 2010 with an average of 3-4 working hours per day; 5 days a week. Two teaching hospitals (Al-Kadhimiya & Al-Yarmouk teaching hospitals) were included in the study. A total of four hundred thirty eight type 2 diabetic patients had a
previous diagnosis of type II diabetes mellitus were interviewed directly using a questionnaire form which included three parts, the first part contained some sociodemographic characteristics and information about
inclusion & exclusion criteria, the second part provides information about the physical examination and evidence for long term complications, and the third part provides information about the investigations required to detect controlling of diabetes and presence of complications. Only one hundred fifty (34.25%) of total patients (46 males and 104 females) were included in this study with age ranging from 33 to 66 years. An equal number of age PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com
(ranging from 33 to 67 years) and sex (43 males and 107 females) matched non diabetic subjects were included as a control group. Based on the data collected and defined criteria, the results showed a highly significant change in pulmonary mechanical function for diabetic patients in form of a decrease in the forced expiratory volume over one second (FEV1), the forced vital capacity (FVC), & the vital capacity (VC) in
comparison with non-diabetic controls. There was no significant difference in the studied pulmonary function among diabetic & non-diabetic groups in relation with socio-demographic characteristics (age, sex, residency, occupation, and body mass index). Among diabetic patients, there was significant association concerning the duration of diabetes & some pulmonary function test (FEV1 and VC). On the other hand there was no significant association between pulmonary function for the diabetic patients & the state of control of diabetes, the type of the treatment used, & the type of microvacular complications. However,
the number of these complications seems to have an effect on FVC.