Age at type 2 diabetes diagnosis and prevalence of obesity, hypertension, anxiety, and depression: a retrospective observational study

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: We aimed to investigate associations between age at diagnosis of type 2 diabetes and the relative and absolute risk of four common comorbidities: obesity, hypertension, depression, and anxiety. METHODS AND RESULTS: We used primary and secondary care data from England to conduct a matched cross-sectional study of individuals aged 16-50 years (N = 108,061 with a new diagnosis of type 2 diabetes; 829,946 without type 2 diabetes). Morbidity risk was estimated using multivariable generalised linear models. Adjusted risk ratios (RRs) indicated a higher risk of all studied comorbidities in individuals with vs without type 2 diabetes at all diagnostic ages, with RRs progressively decreasing with older age at diagnosis (from 13.8 at 16-27 years to 5.7 at 48-50 years, for obesity; from 28.9 to 3.2, for hypertension; from 4.4 to 2.5, for depression; and from 4.3 to 2.2, for anxiety). The estimated total number of morbidities among individuals aged 16 years with vs without type 2 diabetes were 85.2 (95 % CI: 83.3-87.0) and 7.1 (95 % CI: 6.9-7.3) per 100 individuals, respectively. Corresponding estimates at 50 years of age were 92.0 (91.3-92.8) and 24.8 (24.6-25.0). CONCLUSION: The substantially higher burden of MLTCs in young individuals with vs without type 2 diabetes emphasises the need for multidisciplinary patient care and management in individuals diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in early adulthood.