Diabetes Care, Vol 20, Issue 9 1435-1441, Copyright © 1997 by American Diabetes Association
U.K. Prospective Diabetes Study 22. Effect of age at diagnosis on diabetic tissue damage during the first 6 years of NIDDM
TM Davis, IM Stratton, CJ Fox, RR Holman and RC Turner
Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, U.K.
OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of age at diagnosis on the initial
prevalence and subsequent risk of the progression of diabetic tissue damage
in patients with NIDDM. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The prevalence of
Q-wave myocardial infarction, absent dorsalis pedis pulses, retinopathy,
absent ankle jerks, hypertension, and microalbuminuria were determined at
baseline and at 3 and 6 years of follow-up in five consecutive 6-year
age-cohorts of 3,027 newly diagnosed white patients aged between 36 and 65
years recruited to the U.K. Prospective Diabetes Study. The effect of age
at diagnosis on the initial prevalence and the risk of progression of these
complications and associated conditions was analyzed using logistic
regression and proportional odds methods, respectively. RESULTS: Q-wave
myocardial infarction and hypertension were more prevalent in older
patients at presentation, but age at diagnosis did not have a significant
effect on the increased risk of either after 6 years of NIDDM. Absent
dorsalis pedis pulses and ankle jerks were also more prevalent in the older
age-groups at presentation, but age at diagnosis was a significant
predictor of the increasing prevalence of both during follow-up. The
baseline prevalence of retinopathy and microalbuminuria was not related to
age. The subsequent risk of retinopathy, but not microalbuminuria,
increased significantly with age at diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Age at
diagnosis has a variable impact on different types of diabetic tissue
damage and may thus be an important variable in epidemiological and
intervention studies in NIDDM. Regular ophthalmologic surveillance and
examination of the feet increase in importance with increasing age since
the diagnosis of NIDDM.