Aim: To estimate the absolute risk (%) of 5- and 10-years cardiovascular mortality in Macedonian type 2 diabetes patients based on DECODE model, and the gender difference of the estimated risk.
Methods and materials: Observational, cross-sectional study including a cohort of 1,404 type 2 diabetes patients; inclusion criteria: aged 25 to 65 years, absence of confirmed arterial disease, history of ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease or peripheral arterial disease; and absence of life-threatening conditions, such as cancer; at the time of risk assessment. Absolute risk was assessed based on the following risk factors: gender, age, known diabetes, smoking status, systolic blood pressure and total cholesterol.
Results: From the study cohort, 884 were identified as eligible for analysis, 503 (56.9%) of these were women. The estimated absolute risk (%) of 5- and 10-year cardiovascular mortality, based on DECODE model, was 1.1±1.3% and 5.5±6.1%, respectively; significantly higher absolute risk was estimated in men (1.7±1.6 vs 0.6±0.8, p<0.001 and 8.9±7.6 vs 2.9±2.5, p<0.001, for 5- and 10-years absolute risk, respectively).
Discussion and conclusion: This study is a first assessment of cardiovascular mortality in the Macedonian type 2 diabetic population based on DECODE model. It would be of both clinical and scientific interest to assess the risk prediction accuracy of the model, and to compare it with other diabetes-specific and diabetes non-specific models.