Association of prediabetes, defined by fasting glucose, HbA1c only, or combined criteria, with the risk of cardiovascular disease in Koreans

Abstract

Background: The aim of the present study was to compare the association between cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and prediabetes defined by either fasting plasma glucose (FPG), HbA1c, or their combination in a Korean population.

Methods: In all, 76 434 South Koreans who voluntarily underwent a general health examination in the Health Screening & Promotion Center (Asan Medical Center) were analyzed after excluding patients with a previous history of CVD. Cardiovascular events and death due to CVD during a median follow-up period of 3.1 years (interquartile range 1.9-4.3 years) were identified from the Nationwide Health Insurance Claims Database and death certificates using ICD-10 codes.

Results: Age- and sex-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for overall CVD events were significantly greater for subjects with prediabetes defined by FPG only (HR 1.19; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.08-1.31), HbA1c only (HR 1.28; 95% CI 1.16-1.42), and combined criteria (HR 1.20; 95% CI 1.09-1.32) compared with the normoglycemic group. After adjusting for multiple conventional risk factors (e.g. hypertension, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, smoking status, family history of CVD, and BMI), the HRs for overall CVD were significantly increased only for participants with prediabetes defined by HbA1c. Age- and sex-adjusted HRs for major ischemic heart disease events were significantly increased for subjects with prediabetes defined either by HbA1c or combined criteria. Similarly, age- and sex-adjusted HRs for percutaneous coronary intervention were significantly higher for subjects with prediabetes defined by HbA1c only. For diabetes, the multivariate-adjusted HRs for all outcomes were significantly increased by all three criteria.

Conclusions: Adding an HbA1c criterion when defining prediabetes in Koreans can help identify individuals with an increased risk of CVD.

Keywords: HbA1c; Koreans; cardiovascular disease; fasting glucose; prediabetes; 心血管疾病; 空腹血糖; 糖尿病前期。; 韩国人.