Risk of disseminated intravascular coagulation in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: retrospective cohort study

OBJECTIVES: To determine quantitatively the association between type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study using a claims database. SETTING: Medical care institutions representing 9% of all secondary hospitals (acute care hospitals) in Japan. PARTICIPANTS: In total, 797 324 admissions, comprising 435 354 patients aged 18–79 years at the time of admission, were enrolled between January 2010 and September 2014. All patients were diagnosed with diabetes or admitted to hospitals that provided laboratory data. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Incidence of DIC reported by physicians in claims data. RESULTS: Logistic regression analysis found that the risk of DIC was significantly higher in T2DM patients than in non-DM patients (fully adjusted OR: 1.39 (95% CI 1.32 to 1.45)), independent of age, sex, admission year and potential underlying diseases. The higher risk of DIC in T2DM patients was apparent in those who were treated with insulin within the 30-day period prior to admission (1.53 (1.37 to 1.72)). When stratified by the potential underlying diseases, the risk of DIC was higher in T2DM patients with non-septic severe infection (1.67 (1.41 to 1.97)) and with solid tumour (1.59 (1.47 to 1.72)) than in non-DM patients with those underlying diseases. The risk was similar between T2DM and non-DM patients with sepsis (0.98 (0.90 to 1.08)) and lower in T2DM patients with acute leukaemia (0.70 (0.59 to 0.84)). CONCLUSIONS: T2DM was associated with a higher risk of DIC, particularly when recently treated with insulin, as well as among admissions with solid tumour or non-septic severe infection.