Mortality from coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular disease and associated risk factors in diabetic patients in Osaka District, Japan.

Mortality from coronary heart disease (CHD) and cerebrovascular disease (CVD), as well as associated risk factors, were examined. The subjects studied were 1939 non-insulin-dependent diabetic (NIDDM) patients and 503 deaths were observed during a mean follow-up period of 9.4 years. Of these deaths, 62 were CHD deaths and 84 were CVD deaths. The mortality rates per 1000 person-years from CHD were 3.95 for males and 2.57 for females and those from CVD were 5.12 and 3.86 for males and females, respectively, showing a higher mortality for males and an increasing trend with age. The baseline factors associated with CHD mortality were age at entry into the study, hypertension, ischemic ECG changes, serum cholesterol level, diabetic retinopathy and albuminuria, while those associated with CVD were age at entry, hypertension, ischemic ECG changes, diabetic retinopathy, albuminuria and therapeutic regimen, all of which were found to be significant by univariate analysis. The relationships were further analyzed by the multiple logistic method. In addition, the baseline characteristics of the patients who died of CHD and CVD were compared with those of patients who died from other causes. The baseline characteristics in cases of deaths from CHD and CVD were significantly different from those of deaths from other causes in terms of obesity, ischemic ECG changes, serum cholesterol level and serum triglycerides level for deaths from CHD and in terms of age at onset, age at death and hypertension for deaths from CVD.