Platelet Indices and Its Association with Microvascular Complications Among Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients in Northeast Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

• Main Authors: Taderegew MM, Woldeamanuel GG, Emeria MS, Tilahun M, Yitbarek GY, Zegeye B
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2021-02-01
• Series: Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity : Targets and Therapy
• Subjects: platelet indices; microvascular complication; type 2 dm; ethiopia
• Online Access: https://www.dovepress.com/platelet-indices-and-its-association-with-microvascular-complications--peer-reviewed-article-DMSO

Mitku Mammo Taderegew,1 Gashaw Garedew Woldeamanuel,1 Mamo Solomon Emeria,2 Melkamu Tilahun,3 Getachew Yideg Yitbarek,4 Betregiorgis Zegeye5 1Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Wolkite University, Wolkite, Ethiopia; 2Department of Nursing, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Wolkite University, Wolkite, Ethiopia; 3Department of Biomedical Sciences (Medical Physiology), College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Debre Markos University, Debre Markos, Ethiopia; 4Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Debre Tabor University, Debre Tabor, Ethiopia; 5HaSET Maternal and Child Health Research Program, Shewarobit Field Office, Shewarobit, EthiopiaCorrespondence: Mitku Mammo TaderegewDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Wolkite University, PO Box 07, Wolkite, EthiopiaEmail [e-mail]: Platelet indices have been shown to be associated with complications of diabetes mellitus (DM). However, the clinical relevance of platelet indices for assessing the risk of being microvascular complications among patients with DM is largely overlooked. Hence this study aimed to determine the association of platelet indices with microvascular complications among type 2 DM patients.Patients and Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 352 type 2 DM patients from April 1 to May 30/2019 at Debre Berhan Referral Hospital. Data were collected by interview, physical measurements, document review, and laboratory tests. Then the data were entered into Epi-data manager-4.4.1.0 and exported into SPSS-25 for analysis. Platelet indices were compared between participants with and without microvascular complications using an independent t-test. A logistic regression model was used to assess the association between microvascular complications and platelet indices. All inferences were considered statistically significant at P< 0.05.Results: One hundred seventeen (33.2%) of participants were suffering from at least one microvascular complications. The mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet distribution width (PDW), and platelet-large cell ratio (P-LCR) were significantly increased in DM patients with complications as compared to without complications (13.57± 2.17fl vs. 11.76± 1.93fl), (16.57± 2.49fl vs. 14.97± 2.41fl) and (28.09± 7.58% vs. 24.19± 6.46%), respectively (all are P˂0.001). In multivariate logistic regression analysis, MPV (AOR=1.68, 95% CI: 1.37– 2.05), PDW (AOR=1.37, 95% CI: 1.15– 1.63), P-LCR (AOR=1.07, 95% CI: 1.01– 1.14), age (AOR=1.07, 95% CI: 1.01– 1.12), and duration of DM (AOR=1.31, 95% CI: 1.18– 1.46) were significantly associated with the presence of microvascular complications.Conclusion: MPV, PDW, and P-LCR were significantly higher among type 2 DM patients with microvascular complications. This indicates that platelet indices can be used as prognostic markers of vascular complications and can be used as simple and cost-effective parameters to predict microvascular complications particularly in patients with old age and long duration of DM.Keywords: platelet indices, microvascular complication, type 2 DM, Ethiopia