Abstract P080: Glucose Homeostasis, Diabetes, and Orthostatic Hypotension in a Community-based Population: The ARIC Study

Abstract

Background: Although orthostatic hypotension (OH) screening is recommended for adults with diabetes, the extent to which blood glucose (BG) levels are associated with OH has not been characterized. Hypothesis: Higher BG levels are associated with having OH, while low levels of BG are not associated with OH. Methods: We examined the cross-sectional association of OH with BG and diabetes status in middle-aged (range 44 to 66 yrs) ARIC participants (1987-1989). OH was defined as a drop in blood pressure (systolic ≥20 mm Hg or diastolic ≥10 mm Hg) within 2 min of standing, when transitioning from the supine to standing position. Using logistic regression, we examined the association of the following 5 categories of BG without diabetes or diabetes and OH: (1) low-normal BG (fasting BG <80 or non-fasting BG <100 mg/dL), (2) high-normal BG (fasting BG of 80-99 or non-fasting BG of 100-139 mg/dL), (3) pre-diabetes (fasting BG of 100-125 or non-fasting BG of 140-199 mg/dL), (4) undiagnosed diabetes (fasting BG ≥126 or non-fasting BG ≥200 mg/dL), or (5) diabetes (self-reported diagnosis or current medication use). We also modeled BG as a continuous variable by diabetes status, using restricted cubic splines to characterize the association between BG level and OH. Results: In 12,636 participants (mean age 54.6 ± 5.7 yrs, 55% women, 26% black), 4.3% had OH at baseline. The mean BG was 108 ± 38 mg/dL; 7% had diabetes (self-reported diagnosis or diabetes medications). After adjustment, adults with low BG (group 1) or diabetes (group 5) were both more likely to have OH compared to the normal BG group (group 2) with ORs of 2.15 (95% CI: 1.26, 3.65) and 2.20 (95% CI: 1.65, 2.92), respectively. Continuous characterization of the relationship between BG and OH was U-shaped for participants with or without diabetes ( Figure, panels A&B ). Conclusions: Low BG in adults without diabetes, diabetes, and high BG in adults with diabetes were associated with OH. This suggests a more prominent role for BG homeostasis in blood pressure stabilization with standing.