Cardiovascular risk calculation and statin use status in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus aged 40-69 presenting to family medicine

This study aims to determine the cardiovascular risk (CVR) status, statin usage rates, and factors influencing these factors in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) patients aged 40-69 years who presented to Family Health Centers in Denizli city center. In this descriptive and cross-sectional study 319 T2DM patients who presented to four different Family Health Centers in Denizli between April 1, 2025, and May 31, 2025, were included. Data was collected through face-to-face interviews using a 28- item questionnaire and by obtaining laboratory and clinical data (lipid profile, blood pressure, etc.) from the last 6 months from the family medicine information system. Cardiovascular risk was classified according to the SCORE2-Diabetes risk scoring system and the presence of coronary artery disease/target organ damage. Statistical methods such as the chi-square, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests were used for data analysis with the SPSS 25.0 program. The mean age of the 319 participants was 59.1±7.99 years 63.9% were female and 64.6% were primary school graduates. It was found that 90.3% of participants were overweight or obese and 54.5% were physically inactive. Findings have shown that a significant proportion of patients (73%) are unaware of their high or very high cardiovascular risk despite being at risk. Only 37.6% of patients were taking statins and even among those undergoing treatment only 16.7% achieved LDL-C targets. Even in the very high-risk group this rate is only 7%. Normalisation of cholesterol levels is often misinterpreted by patients and some physicians as a signal that treatment can be discontinued which can lead to treatment either never being initiated or being discontinued prematurely. In conclusion, there is a significant discrepancy between the guidelines for managing diabetic dyslipidaemia in type 2 diabetic patients in primary care and actual clinical practice, largely due to a lack of awareness of risk and knowledge of treatment. Keywords: Statin, Cardiovascular risk awareness, Diabetic dyslipidemia, Diabetes Mellitus