Aims: This study was designed to compare the risk of long-term health outcomes, including microvascular, macrovascular complications and mortality, across 4 cohorts: triple-goal, dual-goal, single-goal, and no-goal achievers.
Methods: A retrospective cohort of 53,120 patients with T2DM were identified (97.51% male, 61.49% whites) from the Veterans Affairs (VA) electronic medical records VISN 16 data warehouse (2004-2010). Propensity score weight (PSW) was used to balance demographic characteristics and complication history at baseline. The PSW adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) from Cox proportional hazard models were used to compare complications and all-cause mortality over an average of 4 years of follow-up.
Results: At baseline, 25.43% (13,507) patients achieved triple-goal, while 41.36% (21,972) and 26.37% (14,010) patients achieved dual-goal and single-goal, respectively. During the follow-up period, triple-goal achievement was associated with risk reductions of complications and all-cause mortality when compared to all other groups of achieving dual or single-goal. Across different combinations of dual-goal achievement, the cohort with LDL-C goal achievement had lower risk of complication events and mortality, compared to those that achieved other goals but failed to reach LDL-C goal.
Conclusions: Achievement of triple-goal was associated with better health outcomes among veterans with T2DM compared to those that did not, while LDL-C has more weight of influence. Multi-faceted treatment strategies targeting hypertension, hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia may improve health outcome in veterans with T2DM.
Keywords: Blood glucose; Blood lipid; Blood pressure; Diabetes related complications; Type 2 diabetes mellitus.
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