Risk of fracture in adults with type 2 diabetes in Sweden: A national cohort study

• Author summary Why was this study done? Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is considered a risk factor for fracture but the evidence regarding the impact of T2DM on fracture risk is conflicting.We sought to determine if patients with T2DM had increased fracture risk and if so, to identify T2DM-related risk factors. What did the researchers do and find? We used a national register covering nearly all adult patients with T2DM in Sweden to compare the risk of fracture between T2DM patients ( = 580,127) and population controls ( = 580,127) without T2DM.In general, the risk of fracture was only marginally increased (by 1% for major osteoporotic fracture (MOF) and by 6% for hip fracture) for patients with T2DM compared to controls, but for patients with presence of risk factors, such as low BMI, long T2DM duration, insulin treatment, and/or low physical activity, the risk increase was more substantial (20% or higher) and potentially clinically relevant. What do these findings mean? Our findings suggest that T2DM per se should not be considered an important risk factor for fracture.Special consideration of the T2DM-related risk factors can be used to identify T2DM patients with a clinically relevant increased fracture risk.Further studies are needed to develop fracture risk calculators for different settings and populations for T2DM patients specifically. BackgroundType 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is considered a risk factor for fracture but the evidence regarding the impact of T2DM on fracture risk is conflicting. The objective of the study was to determine if patients with T2DM have increased fracture risk and if T2DM-related risk factors could be identified. Methods and findingsIn this national cohort study in Sweden, we investigated the risk of fracture in 580,127 T2DM patients, identified through the national diabetes register including from both primary care and hospitals, and an equal number of population-based controls without diabetes matched for age, sex, and county from 2007 to 2017. The mean age at entry was 66.7 years and 43.6% were women. During a median follow-up time of 6.6 (interquartile range (IQR) 3.1 to 9.8) years, patients with T2DM had a marginally but significantly increased risk of major osteoporotic fracture (MOF) (hazard ratio (HR) 1.01 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.00 to 1.03)) and hip fracture (HR 1.06 (95% CI 1.04 to 1.08)) compared to controls, associations that were only minimally affected (HR 1.05 (95% CI 1.03 to 1.06) and HR 1.11 (95% CI 1.09 to 1.14), respectively) by multivariable adjustment (age, sex, marital status, and an additional 20 variables related to general morbidity, cardiovascular status, risk of falls, and fracture). In a multivariable-adjusted Cox model, the proportion of the risk for all fracture outcomes (Heller's R2) explained by T2DM was below 0.1%. Among the T2DM patients, important risk factors for fracture were a low BMI (<25 kg/m(2)), long diabetes duration (>= 15 years), insulin treatment, and low physical activity. In total, 55% of the T2DM patients had none of these risk factors and a significantly lower fracture risk than their respective controls. The relatively short mean duration of T2DM and lack of bone density data, constitute limitations of the analysis. ConclusionIn this study, we observed only a marginally increased fracture risk in T2DM, a condition that explained less than 0.1% of the fracture risk. Consideration of the herein identified T2DM-related risk factors could be used to stratify T2DM patients according to fracture risk.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

bone-mineral density

hip fracture

older-adults

women

population

complications

mortality

men

association

mellitus

General & Internal Medicine

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ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)