Heart-Related Deaths Rise in Young Adults With Diabetes

TOPLINE:

Cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related mortality among young adults aged 15-44 years with diabetes as a contributing cause increased from 1.08 to 1.23 per 100,000 individuals from 1999 to 2019, with higher rates among men, non-Hispanic Black individuals, and rural populations.

METHODOLOGY:

Although diabetes is increasingly prevalent among young adults and strongly elevates the risk for atherosclerotic CVD, contemporary data on CVD-related mortality, specifically in young adults with diabetes, remain scarce.
Researchers utilized CDC’s Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER) database to assess longitudinal trends in CVD-related mortality among young adults in the US from 1999 to 2019, with comorbid diabetes listed as a contributing cause.
Age-adjusted mortality rates (AAMRs) per 100,000 individuals were calculated using CVD-related mortality in young adults with diabetes as the numerator and the overall population as the denominator; trends were compared by sex, Hispanic ethnicity and race, region, and degree of urbanization.
Temporal trends were also assessed by estimating the average annual percent change (AAPC) across subgroups.

TAKEAWAY:

During the study period, 3,309,079 individuals aged 15-44 years died, including 30,978 individuals (61.95% male individuals) whose deaths involved CVD with diabetes listed as a contributing cause.
The overall AAMR increased from 1.08 per 100,000 individuals in 1999 to 1.23 per 100,000 individuals in 2019 (AAPC, +0.75).
From 1999 to 2019, the AAMR for CVD-related deaths in young adults with diabetes as a contributing cause was higher in men vs women (1.60 vs 0.97 per 100,000 individuals) and increased in men from 1.34 to 1.56 (AAPC, +0.85) and in women from 0.83 to 0.91 (AAPC, +0.36).
Non-Hispanic vs Hispanic individuals had higher AAMRs (1.33 vs 0.94); among non-Hispanic individuals, rates were highest in Black individuals, followed by American Indian/Alaska Native, White, and Asian/Pacific Islander individuals.
Rural vs urban regions exhibited higher AAMRs (1.63 vs 1.23).

IN PRACTICE:

“This warrants the development of targeted healthcare policies to address the needs of these populations,” the authors wrote.

SOURCE:

The study was led by Yong-Hao Yeo, MBBS, Department of Internal Medicine-Pediatrics, Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan. It was published online in Diabetes Obesity and Metabolism.

LIMITATIONS:

The database constraints prevented researchers from calculating AAMRs using individuals with diabetes as the denominator, potentially underestimating the mortality burden specifically attributable to diabetes. The use of diagnostic codes alone excluded important clinical information such as diabetes duration, glycemic control, and specific antidiabetic treatments that may affect CV outcomes. Additionally, the CDC WONDER database lacked individual-level demographic information and other CV risk factors.

DISCLOSURES:

The research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. One author declared serving on advisory boards, providing consulting services, and receiving honoraria and research grants from various companies and organizations.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.