Prevalence of CHD-related metabolic comorbidity of diabetes mellitus in Northern Chinese adults: the REACTION study.

AIM: To gain more precise understanding of the epidemiology of comorbidities with diabetes and to clarify the correlation with coronary heart disease (CHD) in Chinese population.

METHODS: Based on REACTION study, 18,696 participants aged over 40 years were included in the cross-sectional analysis. Prevalence and patterns of comorbid diseases were demonstrated, and their impact on CHD was also analyzed by logistic regression.

RESULTS: Diabetes was more prevalent in patients with older age and lower education level, with relatively low awareness (36.3%), treatment (27.9%) and control (34.7%) rate. The proportion of diabetics with additional condition was 88.8%; 53.2% had more than two comorbidities. Compared with patients with comorbidities, diabetics only had the highest controlled HbA1c rate (37.9%). Dyslipidemia (71.97%) was the most common comorbidity, followed by hypertension (58.19%), and hypothyroidism (21.24%). A strong gradient existed between the number of comorbidities and CHD versus "diabetes only" group; the odds ratio was 1.38, 2.48 and 3.01 for diabetics with one, two and three additional diseases, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: Low glycemic control and high prevalence of diabetes comorbidities are common in China, which increases the risk of CHD. Full-scale and individualized guidelines for diabetics should be planned.