Introduction: dyslipidemia confers excess atherosclerotic cardiovascular risk in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) patients, and this requires prompt identification and management to reduce morbidity and mortality. This study assessed the prevalence and pattern of dyslipidemia in type 2 DM patients in Zaria, Northwestern Nigeria.

Methods: this was a cross-sectional study of newly diagnosed type 2 DM patients at Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Zaria. Demographic, clinical and laboratory data were extracted from the case notes of eligible patients and analyzed using STATA version 14. Continuous variables were presented as mean ± standard deviation (SD), or median and interquartile range (IQR) while categorical variables were as frequencies and percentages. Student t and chi-square tests were used to test for association at p < 0.05.

Results: a total of 322 subjects (161 male, 161 female) with a mean age of 53.5 ± 10.8 years partook in the study. The prevalence of dyslipidemia was 69.3%. Mixed dyslipidemia of high triglyceride (TG) and high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) was present in 41.0%; high TG and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in 2.8%; and high LDL and low HDL in 2.5%. Atherogenic dyslipidemia, isolated hypercholesterolemia and isolated low HDL-cholesterol were present in 3.4%, 2.5% and 23.6% respectively. Dyslipidemia status was not associated with age, sex, duration of DM or hypertension, obesity, and mean fasting blood sugar (FBS) and 2-hour postprandial glucose.

Conclusion: the prevalence of dyslipidemia is high in the newly diagnosed type 2 DM patients and therefore, initial management should incorporate measures to control dyslipidemia.