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Higher frequency of hospitalization but lower relative mortality for pandemic influenza in people with type 2 diabetes
Author(s) -
Ruiz P. L. D.,
Bakken I. J.,
Håberg S. E.,
Tapia G.,
Hauge S. H.,
Birkeland K. I.,
Gulseth H. L.,
Stene L. C.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of internal medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.625
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1365-2796
pISSN - 0954-6820
DOI - 10.1111/joim.12984
Subject(s) - medicine , hazard ratio , type 2 diabetes , pandemic , proportional hazards model , population , cohort study , influenza vaccine , cohort , vaccination , diabetes mellitus , confidence interval , demography , immunology , covid-19 , environmental health , endocrinology , disease , sociology , infectious disease (medical specialty)
Background There is limited evidence linking type 2 diabetes (T2D) to influenza‐related complications. Objectives To test a set of research questions relating to pandemic influenza vaccination, hospitalization and mortality in people with and without T2D. Methods In this population‐based cohort study, we linked individual‐level data from several national registers for all Norwegian residents aged 30 years or more as of January 2009. People with or without T2D at baseline ( n = 2 992 228) were followed until December 2013. We used Cox regression to estimate adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs). Results Pandemic influenza hospitalization was more common in individuals with T2D (aHR = 2.46, 95% CI 2.04–2.98). The mortality hazard ratio associated with hospitalization for pandemic influenza was lower in people with T2D (aHR = 1.82, 95% CI 1.21–2.74) than in those without T2D (aHR = 3.89, 95% CI 3.27–4.62). The same pattern was observed when restricting to 90‐day mortality (aHR = 3.89, 95% CI 1.25–12.06 amongst those with T2D and aHR = 10.79, 95% CI 7.23–16.10 amongst those without T2D). The rate of hospitalization for pandemic influenza was 78% lower in those vaccinated compared to nonvaccinated amongst people with T2D (aHR = 0.22, 95% CI 0.11–0.39), whilst the corresponding estimate for those without T2D was 59% lower (aHR = 0.41, 95% CI 0.33–0.52). Mortality was 25% lower in those vaccinated compared to nonvaccinated amongst people with T2D (aHR = 0.75, 95% CI 0.73–0.77), whilst the corresponding estimate for those without T2D was 9% (aHR = 0.91, 95% CI 0.90–0.92). Conclusions There may have been a lower threshold for pandemic influenza hospitalization for people with T2D, rather than more severe influenza infection. Our combined results support the importance of influenza vaccination amongst people with T2D, especially during pandemics.