JPSIM Journal of Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine J Pak Soc Intern Med 2709-8729 2710-0804 Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine 10.70302/jpsim.v5i1.2412 jpsim.v5i1.2412 Original Research Assessment of QTc Interval Prolongation and its Relationship with Glycemic Control in Diabetic Populations across Demographic and Clinical Spectrums Noor Shahnaz drshan.noor@gmail.com * Saeed Rabia Khan Sara Bilal Muhammad Haroon Nayyer Naveed Iqba Jalil Qauid-e-Azam Medical College, Bahawalpur CMH Institute of Medical Sciences Bahawalpur Dera Ghazi Khan Medical College, D.G. Khan Shahida Islam Medical College Lodhran *Correspondence: Shahnaz Noor (drshan.noor@gmail.com) 28 02 2024 2024 5 1 413 417 09 10 2023 21 12 2023 Copyright © 2024 The Author(s) 2024 The Author(s) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Objective

To assess the QTc Interval Prolongation and its Relationship with Glycemic Control in Diabetic Populations across Demographic and Clinical Spectrums.

 Methodology

This cross-sectional study was carried out with outpatients visiting the Department of Medicine at Quaid-e-Azam Medical College in Bahawalpur, from November 2022 to May 2023. It involved a total of 255 diabetic patients, encompassing both genders, aged between 40 and 70 years. The focus was on evaluating the prolonged QTc interval.

 Results

The mean age of the patients is 54.23 ± 9.49 years, the HbA1c level is 7.32 ± 0.449, and the mean QTc interval is 439.88 ± 14.795 milliseconds, respectively. Among the 255 diabetic patients studied, prolonged QTc was noted in 98 (38%) of them. The mean HbA1c level for patients with prolonged QTc is 7.40 ± 0.374 contrasting with a slightly lower mean of 7.27 ± 0.485 in patients without prolonged QTc. The statistical significance of this difference is underscored by a P value of 0.024.

 Conclusion

In conclusion, our study of 255 diabetic patients, showed a high prevalence of prolonged QTc intervals, observed in 38% of the patients. The study highlighted a significant correlation between prolonged QTc intervals and HbA1c levels, particularly pronounced in specific demographic and clinical subgroups. Elevated HbA1c levels were more frequently associated with QTc prolongation, especially in younger patients (40-55 years) and those with dyslipidemia. However, the study found no significant difference in QTc prolongation between genders.

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