Diabetes and all-cause mortality, a 18-year follow-up study

This study compared mortality rates and decline in life expectancy of Iranian patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) with the general population. A retrospective study of 2451 patients with T2DM was conducted in the Isfahan Endocrine and Metabolism Research Center, Iran, between 1992 and 2010. The mean (SD) of diabetes duration and median (Q1,Q3) of follow-up period were 15.5(8.0) and 8(5, 10) years. The main outcome was all-cause mortality. 732(29.87%) of patients died during the follow-up. Overall mortality rates (95%CI) per 1000 person-years in men and women were 56.3(52.0–62.1) and 27.3(24.5–30.4), respectively. The relative risks (95%CI) of all-cause mortality in males vs. females with T2DM aged 45–49, 50–54, 55–59, 60–64, 65–69, 70–74 were [3.02(1.49–6.11) vs. 2.09(0.96–4.57)], [4.05(2.73–6.01) vs. 2.29(1.52–3.45)], [4.13(3.26–5.24) vs. 1.70(1.23–2.35)], [2.42(1.90–3.07) vs. 1.82(1.46–2.27)], [2.36(2.02–2.76) vs. 1.49(1.25–1.78)] and [1.71(1.50–1.95) vs. 1.04(0.88–1.23)] times more than the general population, respectively. Men and women living with diabetes lost an average of 13.2(6.3) and 13.9(6.0) life-years from the year of diagnosis, respectively (p = 0.101). The estimated life-years lost were greater in younger patients and a gradual decline was observed with increasing the age at diagnosis. In conclusion, Iranians with diabetes had higher risk of death and lower life expectancy compared to the general population.