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. 2014 Feb;37(2):521-8.
doi: 10.2337/dc13-0997. Epub 2013 Oct 15.

Ideal cardiovascular health and the prevalence and progression of coronary artery calcification in adults with and without type 1 diabetes

Amy C Alman  1 , David M Maahs, Marian J Rewers, Janet K Snell-Bergeon
Affiliations

Ideal cardiovascular health and the prevalence and progression of coronary artery calcification in adults with and without type 1 diabetes

Amy C Alman et al. Diabetes Care. 2014 Feb.

Abstract

Objective: In 2010, the American Heart Association defined seven metrics (smoking, BMI, physical activity, diet, total cholesterol, blood pressure, and fasting plasma glucose) for ideal cardiovascular health (ICH). Subsequent studies have shown that the prevalence of achieving these metrics is very low in the general population. Adults with type 1 diabetes are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), but no studies to date have been published on the prevalence of ICH in this population.

Research design and methods: Data for this analysis were collected as part of the prospective Coronary Artery Calcification in Type 1 Diabetes study. This analysis involved 546 subjects with type 1 diabetes and 631 subjects without diabetes who had complete information for calculating the ICH metrics.

Results: Overall, the prevalence of ICH was low in this population, with none meeting the ideal criteria for all seven metrics. The prevalence of ideal physical activity (10.0%) and diet (1.1%) were particularly low. ICH was significantly associated with both decreased prevalence (odds ratio [OR] 0.70; 95% CI 0.62-0.80) and progression (OR 0.77; 95% CI 0.66-0.90) of coronary artery calcification (CAC).

Conclusions: ICH is significantly associated with decreased prevalence and progression of CAC; however, prevalence of ICH metrics was low in adults both with and without type 1 diabetes. Efforts to increase the prevalence of ICH could have a significant impact on reducing the burden of CVD.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(A) Number of ICH metrics by diabetes status, including HbA1c. (B) Number of ICH metrics by diabetes status, excluding HbA1c. Significance was determined by χ2 test with 3 as the referent category. White bars represent the number of ICH metrics for those with type 1 diabetes. Gray bars represent the number of ICH metrics for those without diabetes. *Significantly lower among those with type 1 diabetes than among those without diabetes (P < 0.05).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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