Higher serum albumin was related with diabetes incidence and the impact of BMI changes: Based on cohort study of 18,384 Chinese male elderly.

AIMS: Albumin (ALB) was a useful marker of nutrition and general health status. However, the conclusion about the association between ALB and diabetes was inconsistent, and little information was known about the elderly.

METHODS: A cohort study based on 18,384 army cadres was conducted Beijing, from 2009 to 2013.

RESULTS: The mean age of the total 18,384 participants was 71±14years, and the mean ALB concentration was 44.33±3.94g/L at baseline. Diabetes incident showed an increasing trend according to the four ALB concentration groups, from 2.054% to 2.811% for incident. Cox regression showed that participants with higher ALB concentration were at increased HRs for diabetes incident. The HRs of ALB (per SD) and ALB concentration for diabetes were 1.125 (95% CI: 1.024-1.231) and 1.029 (95% CI: 1.007-1.051) respectively in the adjusted model. Also the HRs were closely related with BMI changes. For those who had a BMI changes<-1.00kg/m2 , the HRs were lower and not statistically significant, and for those with increasing BMI during an average of 4years' follow-up, the HRs were higher.

CONCLUSION: There was a positive and independent association between baseline ALB concentrations with diabetes incident among Chinese male elderly, and this association was closely related with BMI changes.