Frequency of Diabetic Nephropathy in Type II Diabetic Patients

Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency of diabetic nephropathy in type II diabetic patients at a tertiary care Hospital.

Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted on type II diabetic patients in the Department of Medicine, Indus Medical College & Hospital, Tando Muhammad Khan, from July 2025 to December 2025, on patients aged 18 to 60 years, both genders, who had been previously diagnosed with type II diabetes mellitus for a duration of five years or more and presented with symptoms suggestive of diabetic nephropathy, Diabetic nephropathy was defined as an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of less than 60 mL/min/1.73 m2. All the findings were documented by the researcher using a structured proforma and statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS software (version 25).

Results: Overall mean age of patients was 51.8 years, with male predominance and most had long disease duration, with 64.9% having diabetes for over 10 years. Diabetic nephropathy was diagnosed among 52.9% patients. It was significantly associated with older age, higher BMI, longer duration of disease, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, use of insulin and poorer glycemic control with higher HbA1c (p=0.001). Additionally, presenting symptoms including swelling, polyuria, foamy urine, and fatigue were also significantly more frequent among patients with nephropathy (P<0.05), along with renal function was markedly decreased in the nephropathy group, with a mean eGFR of 47.9 compared to 79.9 mL/min/1.73m² in those without nephropathy (p=0.001). However, the gender and smoking status did not showed significant association with diabetic nephropathy (P>0.05).

Conclusion: Diabetic nephropathy was observed highly frequent among patients with Type II DM, and closely related to advanced age, elevated BMI, comorbidities, long duration of diabetes mellitus, and poor glycemic control.