Background:  Abdominal obesity is an independent determinant of cardiovascular risk in diabetics. Cardiac autonomic neuropathy is often not screened in newly diagnosed cases of diabetes. Early detection of sympathovagal imbalance recorded as decreased short-term heart rate variability of 5-minutes is a useful tool to detect cardiac autonomic neuropathy. Rate pressure product can measure myocardial oxygen consumption and cardiac sympathovagal activity.
Objectives: To find out the correlation between selected anthropometric parameters, gender and duration of diabetes with cardiac autonomic neuropathy in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.
Patients and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 112 newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus patients of both genders at the Department of Physiology in collaboration with the Department of Endocrinology of R.G. Kar Medical College, Kolkata; West Bengal for one year.Body mass index was calculated using the Quetlet index. A ratio of (0.5) was considered a cut-off point for central obesity for waist height ratio for men and women. Short‑term heart rate variability was measured in each study subject. Resting blood pressure and heart rate was recorded in all the subjects in supine position and rate pressure product was calculated.
Results:In the present study subjects rate pressure product was more in females (12.495±2.43) than males (10.955±1.62) which was statistically significant (p-value=0.0097). There was significantly more waist circumference  and waist height ratio  in patients in cardiovascular risk zone of  rate pressure product of more than 10.00.Rate pressure product showed a positive association with duration of disease (r= +0.34) and  p-value was significant.
Conclusion: We conclude that there is increased myocardial oxygen consumption and sympathetic drive evidenced by higher rate pressure product in women and in those with central obesity. Cardiac autonomic neuropathy might be present in newly diagnosed diabetes and longer duration of diabetes correlates with higher rate pressure product.