Hung-Yuan Li1, Yi-Ling Wu2, Shih Te Tu3, Chii-Min Hwu4, Jia-Sin Liu2, Lee-Ming Chuang5. 1. Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan. 2. Institute of Population Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, Taiwan. 3. Section of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan. 4. Section of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Faculty of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan. 5. Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Preventive Medicine, National Taiwan University School of Public Health, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: leeming@ntu.edu.tw.
Abstract
BACKGROUND/ PURPOSE: Diabetes mellitus has become a major cause of death worldwide. Many technologies have become available for managing diabetes and its complications. This study investigated the mortality trends in people with diabetes in Taiwan between 2005 and 2014. METHODS: We used data from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database, which is linked to the National Death Registry. Patients with at least three outpatient visits in 1 year or at least one hospital admission with the diagnosis of diabetes (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification [ICD-9-CM] 250.x) were defined as diabetic patients. The main causes of death were classified using ICD-9-CM or ICD-10-CM. RESULTS: In 2005-2014, the number of diabetic patients increased from 1.3 to 2.2 million in Taiwan, and all-cause mortality in the patients decreased continuously across sexes and age groups (all, 3.45%-3.00%; women, 3.07%-2.70%; men, 3.82%-3.28%, all p < 0.001 for trends). The diabetic patients exhibited a shorter life expectancy than the entire population. The differences decreased from 2005 to 2014 (p < 0.001) and were greater when diabetes was diagnosed early in life. In 2014, the estimated loss of life was 2.6 and 3.2 years in the women and men, respectively, when diabetes was diagnosed at 40 years of age. The top five causes of death in diabetic patients were malignancy, diabetes, heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, and pneumonia. CONCLUSION: The mortality and estimated loss of life of diabetic patients decreased significantly from 2005 to 2014, reflecting advancements in diabetes care in Taiwan.
BACKGROUND/ PURPOSE:Diabetes mellitus has become a major cause of death worldwide. Many technologies have become available for managing diabetes and its complications. This study investigated the mortality trends in people with diabetes in Taiwan between 2005 and 2014. METHODS: We used data from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database, which is linked to the National Death Registry. Patients with at least three outpatient visits in 1 year or at least one hospital admission with the diagnosis of diabetes (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification [ICD-9-CM] 250.x) were defined as diabeticpatients. The main causes of death were classified using ICD-9-CM or ICD-10-CM. RESULTS: In 2005-2014, the number of diabeticpatients increased from 1.3 to 2.2 million in Taiwan, and all-cause mortality in the patients decreased continuously across sexes and age groups (all, 3.45%-3.00%; women, 3.07%-2.70%; men, 3.82%-3.28%, all p < 0.001 for trends). The diabeticpatients exhibited a shorter life expectancy than the entire population. The differences decreased from 2005 to 2014 (p < 0.001) and were greater when diabetes was diagnosed early in life. In 2014, the estimated loss of life was 2.6 and 3.2 years in the women and men, respectively, when diabetes was diagnosed at 40 years of age. The top five causes of death in diabeticpatients were malignancy, diabetes, heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, and pneumonia. CONCLUSION: The mortality and estimated loss of life of diabeticpatients decreased significantly from 2005 to 2014, reflecting advancements in diabetes care in Taiwan.