Relative Risk of Cardiovascular Disease Is Higher in Women With Type 2 Diabetes, but Not in Those With Prediabetes, as Compared With Men

OBJECTIVE Most but not all studies suggest that women with type 2 diabetes have higher relative risk (RR) for cardiovascular disease (CVD) than men. More uncertainty exists on whether the RR for CVD is higher in women with prediabetes compared with men with prediabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS In a cross-sectional study, in 3,540 adults with normal glucose tolerance (NGT), prediabetes, and diabetes, we compared the RR for prevalent nonfatal CVD between men and women. In a longitudinal study including 1,658 adults with NGT, prediabetes, and diabetes, we compared the RR for incidences of major adverse outcomes, including all-cause death, coronary heart disease, and cerebrovascular disease events, after 5.6 years of follow-up. RESULTS Women with prediabetes and diabetes exhibited greater relative differences in BMI, waist circumference, blood pressure, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting glucose, hs-CRP, and white blood cell count than men with prediabetes and diabetes when compared with their NGT counterparts. We found a higher RR for prevalent CVD in women with diabetes (RR 9.29; 95% CI 4.73–18.25; P < 0.0001) than in men (RR 4.56; 95% CI 3.07–6.77; P < 0.0001), but no difference in RR for CVD was observed comparing women and men with prediabetes. In the longitudinal study, we found that women with diabetes, but not those with prediabetes, have higher RR (RR 5.25; 95% CI 3.22–8.56; P < 0.0001) of incident major adverse outcomes than their male counterparts (RR 2.72; 95% CI 1.81–4.08; P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS This study suggests that women with diabetes, but not those with prediabetes, have higher RR for prevalent and incident major adverse outcomes than men.