Does mean platelet volume/lymphocyte count ratio associate with frailty in type 2 diabetes mellitus?

OBJECTIVES

Frailty is a common problem in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). It is considered to be associated with inflammation. Novel markers derived from hemogram, such as neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and mean platelet volume/lymphocyte ratio (MPVLR), are proposed as inflammatory markers. In present study, we aimed to compare NLR and MPVLR levels of frail patients with T2DM to non‑frail diabetic subjects.

METHODS

Diabetic subjects were grouped in frail and non-frail groups according to the Edmonton Frail Scale. General characteristics and laboratory data of the frail and non-frail groups were compared.

RESULTS

The MPVLR of the frail (3.9 [1.4-13.2] %) group was significantly higher than that of the non-frail (3.4 [1.5-6.9] %) group (p = 0.02). MPVLR was positively and significantly correlated with Edmonton Frail Scale score (r = 0.21, p = 0.03). A MPVLR level greater than 3.41 % has 71 % sensitivity and 51 % specifity in predicting frailty.

CONCLUSION

We suggest that elevated MPVLR could be a finding that marks frailty in diabetic subjects. Inexpensive and easy‑to‑assess nature of the MPVLR may be useful in predicting frailty in type 2 diabetic population (Tab. 2, Fig. 1, Ref. 32).