Clinical characteristics and mortality in novel subgroups of adult-onset diabetes in an Australian population-based cohort of men.

AIMS: To determine the prevalence of the novel diabetes subgroups in a population-based study, and investigate clinical characteristics and mortality in these subgroups compared to participants without diabetes.

METHODS

Men from the Geelong Osteoporosis study (n = 895) were categorised according to diabetes status. Men with diabetes (n = 105) were categorised into the severe auto-immune diabetes (SAID) subgroup based on islet antibody seropositivity. The remaining men were then classified into the other subgroups using k-means clustering. ANOVA and chi-squared tests were used to determine differences in demographics, lifestyle factors and comorbidities between the novel diabetes subgroups and normoglycaemia (n = 790). Cox proportional hazard models were used to compare mortality over a median of 11.8 years (IQR 9.7-11.3). A p-value< 0.05 was considered significant, models were adjusted for age, physical activity, and systolic blood pressure.

RESULTS

Compared to men with normoglycaemia, mean blood pressure and cardiovascular comorbidities were higher in the mild obesity-related diabetes (MOD), mild age-related diabetes (MARD), and severe insulin-resistant diabetes (SIRD) subgroups. The MARD subgroup was associated with higher mortality in unadjusted models (HR 5.5, 95 %CI 3.6-8.4); although this was attenuated after adjustment. In unadjusted models, mortality was not different in the SIRD subgroup, however, after adjustment this subgroup had higher mortality (HR 2.0; 95 %CI 1.0-3.9).

CONCLUSIONS

These data may influence choice of antihyperglycaemic medication and management of cardiovascular risk factors in men with type 2 diabetes particularly in the SIRD subgroup which is associated with cardiovascular-related comorbidities, and mortality.