COPD among diabetics associated with increased mortality from respiratory causes

The key findings of the study are

• COPD was present in 12.1% people with T2D. People with COPD had a higher all-cause mortality rate (448.7 persons per 1000 person years) compared with people without COPD (296.6 persons per 1000 person years).

• People with COPD also had substantially higher respiratory mortality incidence rates and moderately raised cardiovascular mortality rates.

• Fully adjusted Poisson models showed that people with COPD had a 1.23 (95% CI 1.21, 1.24) times higher rate of all-cause mortality as compared with those without COPD and a 3.03 (95% CI 2.89, 3.18) times higher rate of respiratory-cause mortality.

• There was no evidence of an association with cardiovascular mortality after adjusting for existing cardiovascular disease.

Raslan and team concluded that “Co-morbid COPD in people with T2D was associated with increased mortality overall and particularly from respiratory causes. People with both COPD and T2D are a high-risk group who would benefit from particularly intensive management of both conditions.”

Reference: Raslan AS, Quint JK, Cook S. All-Cause, Cardiovascular and Respiratory Mortality in People with Type 2 Diabetes and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in England: A Cohort Study Using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD). Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis. 2023;18:1207-1218 DOI:https://doi.org/10.2147/COPD.S407085