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Impact of Being Eligible for Type 2 Diabetes Treatment on All-Cause Mortality and Cardiovascular Events: Regression Discontinuity Design Study

Petersen, I; Nicolaisen, SK; Ricciardi, F; Sharma, M; Thomsen, RW; Baio, G; Pedersen, L; (2020) Impact of Being Eligible for Type 2 Diabetes Treatment on All-Cause Mortality and Cardiovascular Events: Regression Discontinuity Design Study. Clinical Epidemiology , 2020 (12) pp. 569-577. 10.2147/clep.s251704. Green open access

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Abstract

Background: Individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D) have a twofold increased risk for cardiovascular events (CVE), and CVE is responsible for nearly 80% of the mortality. Current treatment guidelines state that individuals should immediately initiate antidiabetic treatment and cardiovascular risk-factor management from T2D diagnosis. However, the evidence base is sparse, and randomized trials are unlikely to be conducted. We examined the impact of being eligible for T2D treatment, as determined by the threshold of HbA1c ≥ 6.5% (≥ 48 mmol/mol), on all-cause mortality and CVE. We hypothesised that individuals who were just above this threshold had a lower risk of CVE and all-cause mortality than individuals just below. / Methods and Findings: We used the regression discontinuity design (RDD), a quasi-experimental design, comparing rates of all-cause mortality and CVE in people just below and just above the eligibility for treatment threshold. We included Danish healthcare records from 43,070 individuals aged 40– 80 years with no previous T2D record and the first record of HbA1c in the range of 6.0– 7.0% (42– 53 mmol/mol) between 2006 and 2014. In total, 36,360 individuals had the first record of HbA1c between 6.0% and 6.4% (42– 47 mmol/mol), and 6710 individuals had a first record between 6.5% and 7.0% (48– 53 mmol/mol). Individuals with a measurement just above 6.5% (48 mmol/mol) had a 21% lower rate of death or CVE, compared to those just below (hazard ratio: 0.79 (95% CI 0.69– 0.90)). Few individuals received early metformin treatment. However, the chance of metformin treatment initiation within 3 months was substantially higher for individuals with an HbA1c measurement above (14%) than below (1%) the threshold. / Conclusion: Individuals with first record of HbA1c measure just above treatment threshold experienced a 21% lower rate of death or CVE than those just below. Lifestyle modifications and cardiovascular risk-factor management may contribute to this reduced rate.

Type: Article
Title: Impact of Being Eligible for Type 2 Diabetes Treatment on All-Cause Mortality and Cardiovascular Events: Regression Discontinuity Design Study
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.2147/clep.s251704
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.2147/clep.s251704
Language: English
Additional information: This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/). By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms.
Keywords: type 2 diabetes, glycated hemoglobin A1c, regression discontinuity design, cardiovascular event, mortality
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Epidemiology and Public Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Primary Care and Population Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Statistical Science
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10100230
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