DISCUSSION
This study investigated the prevalence of, and
factors associated with, type 2 DM and its
microvascular complications. In this study type 2
DM was seen in 72 (23.5%) of all the participants
which is similar to other studies conducted in
Kathmandu, Nepal. A different study among 1710
elderly participants in Kathmandu has shown 25.9%
as the prevalence of type 2 DM [7]. The total
number of new cases of type 2 DM diagnosed
during the present study was 19 (26.3%) among all
72 type 2 DM cases. A study in Gaddap town,
Pakistan, reported that the prevalence of new cases
of type 2 DM was 33.3% (419) out of 1,258 cases
of type 2 DM [9]. In contrast prevalence study at
Thailand shows 4.8% as newly diagnosed case of
type 2 DM [10]. Better health system of Thailand
can be the reason for such variance. In these three
studies the participants were of different age groups
so it may be difficult to draw an exact inference.
However, it tells us that there is a huge burden of
undiagnosed cases of type 2 DM. Out of all 72
cases of type 2 DM in this study 43.1% (31) have
one or more of the microvascular complications and
among them 31.9% have retinopathy, 18.1% have
nephropathy and 22.2% have neuropathy. A
population based study in Thailand among diabetic
participant with mean DM duration of 7 years
shows that the prevalence of diabetic nephropathy
and diabetic retinopathy were 33.9% and 22.8%
respectively [11]. These findings emphasize that
microvascular complications are common among
patients with type 2 DM.