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Characteristics of people with high visit‐to‐visit glycaemic variability in Type 2 diabetes
Author(s) -
Noyes J. D.,
SotoPedre E.,
Donnelly L. A.,
Pearson E. R.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
diabetic medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.474
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 1464-5491
pISSN - 0742-3071
DOI - 10.1111/dme.13435
Subject(s) - medicine , logistic regression , diabetes mellitus , type 2 diabetes , covariate , coefficient of variation , type 1 diabetes , demography , endocrinology , statistics , mathematics , sociology
Aims Increased visit‐to‐visit glycaemic variability is independently associated with adverse outcomes in Type 2 diabetes. Our aim was to identify the patient characteristics associated with raised visit‐to‐visit glycaemic variability in people with Type 2 diabetes. Methods A case–control study was conducted to establish associations between HbA 1c variability and clinical covariates in 10 130 people with Type 2 diabetes. Variability was calculated by two metrics [ sd and coefficient of variation ( CV )] from a minimum of four HbA 1c readings obtained over a 4‐year period. High and low variability groups were defined as the top and bottom tertile of the sd or CV , and used in logistic regression analyses including a number of clinical and biochemical covariates. The analyses were stratified into low mean (< 53 mmol/mol; 7%) and high mean (≥ 53 mmol/mol; 7%) HbA 1c groups. Results Findings were consistent across both HbA 1c groups and variability metrics. Treatment, independent of other factors, was the most strongly associated covariate for the risk of high HbA 1c variability. A six‐fold increased risk was observed in the low HbA 1c group, between the most and least intense treatment regimens ( P < 0.001). Similar findings were present in the high HbA 1c group with a three‐fold increase in risk ( P < 0.001). In addition, male gender, younger age, reduced HDL ‐cholesterol and increased BMI were all found to be independently associated with raised visit‐to‐visit glycaemic variability. Conclusions Intensive treatment resulting in low mean HbA 1c was associated with marked increase in HbA 1c variability. Irrespective of diabetes control, the greatest visit‐to‐visit variability was observed in young, insulin resistant men.