A cohort study on the association between fasting plasma glucose level over 5.3 mmol/L and risks of abnormal glucose metabolism and cardiovascular diseases in the elderly / 中华内科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective The aim of the study was to evaluate the association of fasting plasma glucose (FPG) level over 5.3 mmol/L to the development of abnormal glucose metabolism and cardiovascular diseases (CVD).Methods This was a retrospective cohort study with 1 064 non-diabetic subjects(980 males;84 females) aged 60 or over, who carried out annual health check-up in Chinese PLA General Hospital from May, 1996 to May, 2015.Based on the average FPG level of 3 years before enrollment, the subjects were divided into four groups ＜ 5.3 mmol/L, 5.3-＜ 5.6 mmol/L, 5.6-＜ 6.1 mmol/L and 6.1-＜ 7.0 mmol/L.Glucose metabolic changes, complications and mortality were follow-up until May, 2015.Results (1)The initial 3-year average FPG levels were (4.9 ±0.4) mmol/L in the total 1 064 subjects.Among them, 126 subjects developed diabetes mellitus (DM) and 144 subjects developed impaired glucose regulation (IGR) during the follow-up visits.The proportions of IGR and diabetes increased with the FPG levels (P ＜ 0.05).The risk for developing IGR was significantly higher in subjects with FPG≥5.3 mmol/L than in those with FPG ＜ 5.3 mmol/L (RR =3.08, 95％ CI 2.02-4.81, P ＜0.01).The risk for incident DM was markedly increased in subjects with FPG ≥ 5.6 mmol/L than in those with FPG ＜5.6 mmol/L (RR =6.73, 95％ CI 3.90-11.52, P ＜0.01);(2)The risk for CVD was eight folds higher in subjects with FPG ≥5.3 mmol/L than in subjects with FPG ＜ 5.3 mmol/L (RR =8.42,95％ CI 5.11-13.82, P ＜ 0.05);(3) Survival analysis showed that the risk of death was 1.47 times higher in subjects with FPG ≥ 5.3 mmol/L than in subjects with FPG ＜ 5.3 mmol/L after years of followed-up (RR=l.47, 95％CI 1.09-1.98, P=0.0127).Conclusion The risks for IGR, CVD and mortality are higher in the elderly with FPG ≥5.3 mmol/L, which highlights the importance for the disease prevention in elder people with FPG 5.3 mmol/L or more.