Effects of long-term HbA1c variability on serious infection risks in patients with type 2 diabetes and the influence of age, sex and ethnicity: A cohort study of primary care data
Authors' conclusion
HbA1c variability between T2D patients' primary care visits appears to be associated with more serious infections than average level overall. Well-designed trials could test whether these associations are causal.
Study context
- Population
- T2D patients in England, aged 18–90, alive on 01/01/2015 in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink with ≥4 HbA1c measurements during 2011–14
- Participants
- 411,963 patients
- Exposure
- HbA1c variability score and average HbA1c level categories
- Outcome
- Infections requiring hospitalisation
- Follow-up
- 2015-19
Methodological detailsprimary care data, Poisson regression, adjusted for confounders, stratified by age, sex, ethnicity and average HbA1c level
- Primary care data
- Poisson regression
- Adjusted for confounders
- Stratified by age, sex, ethnicity and average HbA1c level
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Attributable risk fraction: variability vs average level
17.1 % vs. 4.1 %
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Subgroups by age, HbA1c level and ethnicity
- Associations with variability greater among older patients and those with lower HbA1c levels, but not observed among Black ethnicities
Original publication
Effects of long-term HbA1c variability on serious infection risks in patients with type 2 diabetes and the influence of age, sex and ethnicity: A cohort study of primary care data. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. Published 26 March 2024. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →