Association of body mass index and blood pressure variability with 10-year mortality and renal disease progression in type 2 diabetes

Variability in biological parameters may be associated with adverse outcomes. The aim of the study was to determine whether variability in body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure is associated with all-cause, cardiovascular mortality and cancer mortality or with renal disease progression in subjects with type 2 diabetes.

The diabetes database was accessed, and all the information on patient visits (consultations) carried out in the study period (1 January 2008–31 December 2019) was extracted and linked to the laboratory database and the mortality register.

The total number of patients included in the study population was 26,261, of whom 54.4% were male. Median (interquartile range, IQR) age was 60.2 (51.8–68.3) years. The coefficient of variability of BMI was independently associated with increased all-cause and cardiovascular, but not cancer, mortality. Glycated haemoglobin (HbA_1c) was associated with increased all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality as well as with renal progression. Variability in systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and pulse pressure was associated with increased all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in bivariate, but not in multivariate, analyses.

Variability in BMI was associated with increased all-cause and cardiovascular, but not cancer, mortality in a large real-world contemporary population. Our results also confirm the association of HbA_1c with increased all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality as well as with renal progression.