Association for diabetes, stroke risk varies by age, race, sex

(HealthDay)—The magnitude of the association of diabetes with stroke risk varies by age, race, and sex, according to a study published online Aug. 7 in Diabetes Care.

Gargya Malla, M.B.B.S., M.P.H., from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues examined age, race, and sex differences in the diabetes-stroke association in the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke Study. Data were included for 23,002 non-Hispanic black and white U.S. adults aged ≥45 years without prevalent stroke at baseline from 2003 to 2007. Incident stroke events were examined through September 2017.

The researchers found that at baseline, the prevalence of diabetes was 19.1 percent. There were 1,018 stroke events during follow-up. After multivariable adjustment, among adults aged <65 years, increased stroke risk was seen for white women (hazard ratio [HR], 3.72; 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 2.10 to 6.57), black women (HR, 1.88; 95 percent CI, 1.22 to 2.90), and white men (HR, 2.01; 95 percent CI, 1.27 to 3.27), but not black men (HR, 1.27; 95 percent CI, 0.77 to 2.10) with diabetes compared with those without diabetes. Among those aged ≥65 years, diabetes correlated with elevated stroke risk among white women but not black women (HR, 1.05; 95 percent CI, 0.74 to 1.48) and among black men but not white men (HR, 0.86; 95 percent CI, 0.62 to 1.21).

"These findings suggest that targeted efforts are necessary earlier in life for stroke prevention, particularly among adults with diabetes," the authors write.

Two authors disclosed financial ties to Amgen.

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