Cardiovascular disease and its risk factors in IDDM in Europe

OBJECTIVE To study the prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD), its risk factors, and their associations in IDDM patients in different European countries. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS The prevalence of CVD (a past history or electrocardiogram abnormalities) and its risk factors were examined in a cross-sectional study in 3,250 IDDM patients from 16 European countries (EURODIAB IDDM Complications Study). The patients were examined in 31 centers and were stratified between centers for age, sex, and duration of diabetes. The mean ± SD duration of diabetes was 14.7 ± 9.3 years. RESULTS The prevalence of CVD was 9% in men and 10% in women. The prevalence increased with age (from 6% in patients 15–29 years old to 25% in patients 45–59 years old) and with duration of diabetes. The between-center variation for the whole population was from 3 to 19%. In both sexes, fasting triglyceride concentration was higher and HDL cholesterol lower in those patients with CVD than in those without. In men, duration of diabetes was longer, waist-to-hip ratio greater, and hypertension more common in patients with CVD. In women, a greater BMI was associated with increased prevalence of CVD. There was no association between insulin dose, HbA1c level, age-adjusted rate of albumin excretion, or smoking status and CVD. Waist-to-hip ratio, particularly in men, was positively associated with age, age-adjusted HbA1c, prevalence of smoking, daily insulin dose, albumin excretion rate, and fasting triglyceride concentrations. CONCLUSIONS The overall prevalence of CVD in these IDDM patients was ∼ 10%, increasing with age and duration of diabetes and with a sixfold variation between different European centers. CVD prevalence was most strongly associated with elevated triglyceride and decreased HDL cholesterol concentrations. CVD was also associated with albuminuria, but when adjusted by age, this association vanished. Increasing waist-to-hip ratio was associated with a number of adverse characteristics, particularly in IDDM men, reflecting the metabolic syndrome previously described in other populations.