This study examined the San Antonio Heart Study data to determine the level of control of hyperlipidemia among subjects with Type II diabetes. All people 25-64 years in randomly selected households of Mexican Americans or non-Latino whites were eligible to be in one of two waves of the study (1979-1982 and 1984-1988).

Whites were more likely to be aware of hyperlipidemia than Mexican Americans. Whites were also twice as likely to receive treatment, although the number of people receiving treatment was very low (among hyperlipidemic diabetics, 4.3% of Mexican Americans and 8.1% of whites received treatment). For Mexican Americans, living in a more affluent neighborhood was associated with increasing awareness of hyperlipidemia, but there was no trend with regard to receiving treatment. For whites, living in a more affluent neighborhood was associated with awareness of hyperlipidemia only among diabetics. Additionally lower affluence was associated with receiving treatment for both diabetics and non-diabetics. Finally, Mexican Americans were more likely to receive oral agents or insulin for diabetes.

Most patients were not receiving appropriate treatment for hyperlipidemia, and there are ethnic-group differences in the way both diabetes and hyperlipidemia are managed.