Risk factor differences between type 2 diabetes patients with ischemic cerebrovascular versus coronary heart diseases at admission

Aims: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a major risk factor, and shares many common risk factors with ischemic cerebrovascular diseases (ICVD) and coronary heart diseases (CHD). Few studies have directly compared the differences in common risk factors between T2DM patients with ICVD and CHD at admission.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, T2DM patients with or without first-ever ICVD or CHD admitted to our hospital over 3 years were enrolled. Patients' data were retrospectively collected and compared using multivariate logistic regression analyses.

Results: In total, 1208 T2DM patients were enrolled (57.5% men). The median age was 59 years (interquartile range [IQR] 51-69), and duration of diabetes was 7 years (IQR 3-10). Two hundred and two patients (16.7%) were diagnosed with ICVD, 345 (28.6%) with CHD, and 661 (54.7%) had neither ICVD nor CHD. Compared with T2DM patients without ICVD or CHD, ICVD and CHD patients had higher systolic blood pressure (SBP) and older age but lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (all p<0.01), whereas reduced estimated glomerular filtration rate was only associated with CHD (p<0.05). Furthermore, ICVD patients had higher SBP (every 10-mmHg increase, OR=1.38, 95% CI: 1.26-1.51) and HbA1c levels (OR=1.18, 95% CI: 1.06-1.31) than CHD patients.

Conclusions: T2DM patients with ICVD and CHD have differences in common risk factors at admission. Higher systolic blood pressure and HbA1c levels may indicate ICVD.