All Cause Mortality Risk Doubles For Type 2 Diabetes

 

German adults that have type 2 diabetes are two times more likely to die of any course that may come along compared to those without diabetes. They also suffer greater risk if they are not diagnosed at all. This is according to the analysis of registry data for people with type 2 diabetes.

The Procedures used in the Research

The analysis was a follow-up data from the participants from the year 1998 in German National Health Interview Examination and Survey. The researchers found that the risk for death in association to type 2 diabetes was higher among younger people compared to older adults regardless of sex. This was also higher for men compared to women who were undiagnosed for type 2 diabetics.

Dr. Crista from the department of epidemiology at Robert Koch Institute in Berlin together with colleagues analyzed data from 6,550 participants. The survey was conducted by Robert Koch Institute from 1997 to 1999. This study included computer-assisted interview and exams with laboratory analysis. The analysis also included assessment of current medications among the participants. The researchers calculated the age-specific mortality rates for the participants who had type 2 diabetes. They compared age-specific mortality rates for the participants with or without type 2 diabetes and categorized them by sex. They also calculated life lost due to diagnosed diabetes in 2010 in Germany. They compared the official number of deaths reported in Germany with the number of deaths expected without the excess mortality from type 2 diabetes.

What Were The Results?

During the follow up of 12 years the dead were 73 participants who were undiagnosed with type 2 diabetes, 103 participants with type 2 diabetes and 425 participants without diabetes.

They found that mortality rate was greatly increased with age regardless of the diabetes status. They also concluded that mortality RRs were high among younger participants compared to older participants with type 2 diabetes.

Researchers estimated that there were 2% of overall years of life lost because of death from any cause. The researchers noted that the estimate provided a baseline for some variants of diabetes epidemiology as well as the quality of care. They also suggested that in addition to lives lost, the amount and the quality of time spent with the disease should also be considered in the future analysis. This has become more important because several countries have reported to declining RR in association with diabetes. They suggested improved survival into old age and hence a potential increase in years spent on disability.

Among those who participated, with at least 45 years of age, the overall mortality rate was twice higher among undiagnosed with type 2 diabetes and 70% higher among those with the diagnosed diabetes compared to those without the disease. The researchers, however, noted that the CIs were overlapping.

What Was The Conclusion Of This Finding?

According to Dr. Scheidt- Nave, population-based surveillance of high mortality in association to type 2 diabetes should factor in age, sex and diagnosed vs. undiagnosed type 2 diabetes. Younger people with type 2 diabetes, especially men need specific attention, Dr.Scheidt-Nave advised.