Only Diabetes Duration Tied to Microvascular Events

(HealthDay News) — In patients with type 2 diabetes, age or age at diabetes diagnosis and diabetes duration are independently associated with macrovascular events and death, but only duration of disease is independently associated with microvascular events, according to a study published in Diabetologia.

Sophia Zoungas, MBBS, PhD, from the University of Sydney, and colleagues analyzed data from 11,140 patients (mean age, 65.8 years) with type 2 diabetes randomly allocated to intensive or standard glucose control.

Patients were participants in the Action in Diabetes and Vascular Disease: Preterax and Diamicron Modified Release Controlled Evaluation (ADVANCE) trial. Mean age at diagnosis was 57.8 years and mean diabetes duration was 7.9 years.

There was an association between diabetes duration and the risk for macrovascular events (HR=1.13), microvascular events (HR=1.28) and death (HR=1.15). Age or age at diagnosis was only associated with the risk for macrovascular events (HR=1.33) and death (HR=.56).

There was no association found between diabetes duration, age and the risk for macrovascular events or death (both P>.4).

Diabetes duration, age, and the risk for microvascular events were significantly associated (P=.002), with the greatest impact of increasing diabetes duration seen at younger rather than older age.

“In patients with type 2 diabetes, age or age at diagnosis and diabetes duration are independently associated with macrovascular events and death, whereas only diabetes duration is independently associated with microvascular events, and this effect is greater in the youngest patients,” the researchers wrote.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Servier, which partially funded the study.

Reference

  1. Zoungas S et al. Diabetologia. 2014;doi:10.1007/s00125-014-3369-7.