Diagnosis of type 2 diabetes at an older age: effect on mortality in men and women.

OBJECTIVE To compare the mortality of people who were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes over 65 years of age with that of nondiabetic individuals. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Using a population-based diabetes information system for an observational cohort study in Tayside, Scotland, people who were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes over the age of 65 years between 1993 and 2002 were identified. Nondiabetic comparators, matched for age and sex, were identified from the nondiabetic population. The two cohorts were followed up for mortality and cardiovascular mortality according to death certification records. RESULTS There were 3,594 people with type 2 diabetes (48% male) and 7,188 matched comparators identified in the study. Over a mean follow-up period of 4.6 +/- 2.9 years for 3,594 people with type 2 diabetes and 7,188 comparators, 909 (25.3%) patients in the diabetic cohort and 1,651 (23.0%) in the nondiabetic cohort died. The adjusted relative risk for mortality in the diabetic cohort compared with the nondiabetic cohort was 1.06 (95% CI 0.94-1.19) for men and 1.29 (1.15-1.45) for women. Cardiovascular deaths accounted for 49.4% of the deaths in people with and 45.2% in those without diabetes (adjusted relative risk 1.01 [0.93-1.10]). CONCLUSIONS Men diagnosed with type 2 diabetes over the age of 65 years have no excess mortality compared with their nondiabetic counterparts, a finding that was not replicated for women.