RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Risk of Diabetes in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A 12-year Retrospective Cohort Study
JF The Journal of Rheumatology
JO J Rheumatol
FD The Journal of Rheumatology
SP jrheum.121259
DO 10.3899/jrheum.121259
A1 Che-Chun Su
A1 Ie-Chiau Chen
A1 Fang-Ning Young
A1 Ie-Bin Lian
YR 2013
UL http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2013/06/27/jrheum.121259.abstract
AB Objective The incidence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) in adults with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was investigated, and the results were compared with non-RA controls to confirm whether RA is a risk factor for diabetes mellitus (DM) in Taiwan. Methods We used a databank of 1 million individuals randomly selected from 23 million Taiwanese citizens covered by the National Health Insurance plan in 2005. All persons older than age 20 years in 1998 and not diagnosed with either RA or T2D before 1998 were included. They were divided into 2 cohorts, 1 with RA and the other without. Those who had T2D before RA were excluded. Each patient in the RA cohort was followed from the RA diagnosis until the end of 2009, or until dropping out of the insurance coverage. RA was ascertained by at least 3 visits using ICD-9 code 714.0, plus at least 2 visits with prescription of antirheumatic drugs in a period of 12 months. T2D was ascertained by at least 3 visits with diabetes codes within 1 year, while hypertension (HTN) and disorders of lipid metabolism (DLM) were determined by at least 3 visits using corresponding ICD codes during the study period. Kaplan-Meier plots, log-rank tests, and Cox regression were used to study the effects of age, sex, glucocorticoid use, HTN, DLM, and RA on T2D risk. Results The subjects include 600,695 adults. Of these, 4193 were diagnosed with RA, and among them 799 were diagnosed with T2D. The RA to non-RA risk ratio for T2D was 1.68 (95% CI 1.53–1.84) in men and 1.46 (95% CI 1.39–1.54) in women. Conclusion RA appears to be associated with an increased risk for T2D in Taiwan.