Incidence of antiepileptic drug therapy and factors associated with their prescribing in outpatients with diabetic polyneuropathy

Diabetes mellitus is associated with an increased incidence of aortic valve stenosis

BACKGROUND

The prognosis of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) is particularly determined by vascular comorbidities. A recent theory implies that DM could also promote aortic valve stenosis (AS). The present study investigates this association in a large collective of outpatients.

METHODS

This retrospective cohort study compared the incidence of AS in patients with an initial diagnosis of type 2 DM and a matched non-DM cohort in 809 general and diabetologist practices in Germany between January 2005 and December 2018. Cox regression models were performed to study the association between type 2 DM and AS incidence.

RESULTS

A total of 78,805 patients with type 2 DM and 78,805 patients without diabetes were analysed. Diabetes patients were more frequently diagnosed with obesity (52% vs 21%). Four percent of patients with and three percent of without diabetes were diagnosed with AS (p < 0.001). Diabetes was significantly associated with an increased incidence of AS (HR: 1.36, p < 0.001). This association was higher in men (HR: 1.41) versus women (HR: 1.30). The strongest association was observed in young patients (18-50 years, HR: 2.35, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

In our study, diabetes patients had a higher incidence of aortic stenosis during their disease course.