Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Jan 6;313(1):37-44.
doi: 10.1001/jama.2014.16425.

Estimated life expectancy in a Scottish cohort with type 1 diabetes, 2008-2010

Shona J Livingstone  1 , Daniel Levin  1 , Helen C Looker  1 , Robert S Lindsay  2 , Sarah H Wild  3 , Nicola Joss  4 , Graham Leese  5 , Peter Leslie  6 , Rory J McCrimmon  5 , Wendy Metcalfe  7 , John A McKnight  8 , Andrew D Morris  3 , Donald W M Pearson  9 , John R Petrie  2 , Sam Philip  9 , Naveed A Sattar  2 , Jamie P Traynor  7 , Helen M Colhoun  1 ; Scottish Diabetes Research Network epidemiology group; Scottish Renal Registry
Affiliations

Estimated life expectancy in a Scottish cohort with type 1 diabetes, 2008-2010

Shona J Livingstone et al. JAMA. .

Abstract

Importance: Type 1 diabetes has historically been associated with a significant reduction in life expectancy. Major advances in treatment of type 1 diabetes have occurred in the past 3 decades. Contemporary estimates of the effect of type 1 diabetes on life expectancy are needed.

Objective: To examine current life expectancy in people with and without type 1 diabetes in Scotland. We also examined whether any loss of life expectancy in patients with type 1 diabetes is confined to those who develop kidney disease.

Design, setting, and participants: Prospective cohort of all individuals alive in Scotland with type 1 diabetes who were aged 20 years or older from 2008 through 2010 and were in a nationwide register (n=24,691 contributing 67,712 person-years and 1043 deaths).

Main outcomes and measures: Differences in life expectancy between those with and those without type 1 diabetes and the percentage of the difference due to various causes.

Results: Life expectancy at an attained age of 20 years was an additional 46.2 years among men with type 1 diabetes and 57.3 years among men without it, an estimated loss in life expectancy with diabetes of 11.1 years (95% CI, 10.1-12.1). Life expectancy from age 20 years was an additional 48.1 years among women with type 1 diabetes and 61.0 years among women without it, an estimated loss with diabetes of 12.9 years (95% CI, 11.7-14.1). Even among those with type 1 diabetes with an estimated glomerular filtration rate of 90 mL/min/1.73 m2 or higher, life expectancy was reduced (49.0 years in men, 53.1 years in women) giving an estimated loss from age 20 years of 8.3 years (95% CI, 6.5-10.1) for men and 7.9 years (95% CI, 5.5-10.3) for women. Overall, the largest percentage of the estimated loss in life expectancy was related to ischemic heart disease (36% in men, 31% in women) but death from diabetic coma or ketoacidosis was associated with the largest percentage of the estimated loss occurring before age 50 years (29.4% in men, 21.7% in women).

Conclusions and relevance: Estimated life expectancy for patients with type 1 diabetes in Scotland based on data from 2008 through 2010 indicated an estimated loss of life expectancy at age 20 years of approximately 11 years for men and 13 years for women compared with the general population without type 1 diabetes.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure
Figure. Percentage Surviving by Age Among Those With Type 1 Diabetes Compared With the General Population Without Type 1 Diabetes
See the Methods section for life table calculations.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

    1. [Accessed July 31, 2014];Diabetes in the UK 2010: Key statistics on diabetes. Diabetes UK. http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Documents/Reports/Diabetes_in_the_UK_2010.pdf.
    1. Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Ltd. [Accessed July 31, 2014];What is the life expectancy of someone with type 1 diabetes? http://www.jdrf.org.uk/life-with-type-1-diabetes/faq-about-type-1-diabet....
    1. Goodkin G. Mortality factors in diabetes: a 20 year mortality study. J Occup Med. 1975;17(11):716–721. - PubMed
    1. Brown LJ, Scott RS, Moir CL. All-cause mortality in the Canterbury (New Zealand) insulin-treated Diabetic Registry population. Diabetes Care. 2001;24(1):56–63. - PubMed
    1. Miller RG, Secrest AM, Sharma RK, Songer TJ, Orchard TJ. Improvements in the life expectancy of type 1 diabetes: the Pittsburgh Epidemiology of Diabetes Complications study cohort. Diabetes. 2012;61(11):2987–2992. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types