Abstract P151: Late-Life Prediabetes, Diabetes, and Diabetes Duration With Risks of Frailty and Mortality: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study

Abstract

Introduction: Diabetes is a risk factor for frailty and mortality. Longer diabetes duration is associated with higher mortality in older adults, whereas prediabetes is not. Little has been characterized on associations of prediabetes and diabetes duration with frailty risk. Characterizing frailty and mortality risk in older adults with prediabetes and diabetes is useful for planning healthcare resource utilization. Hypothesis: Longer diabetes duration, but not prediabetes, is associated with higher risks of frailty and mortality in older adults. Methods: We conducted a prospective analysis of 4119 ARIC Study participants (mean age 75, 56% women, 22% Black adults) who attended visit 5 (2011-3) without prevalent frailty and who attended visit 6 (2016-7) or died without attending visit 6. We used the Fried phenotype to classify frailty based on ≥3 components: unintentional weight loss, exhaustion, grip strength, slow walking speed, low physical activity. We used multinomial logistic regression to estimate relative risk ratios (RRR) for baseline categories of normoglycemia (HbA1c<5.7%), prediabetes (HbA1c 5.7-<6.5%), or diabetes duration <5, 5-<10, or ≥10 years with incident frailty and death. Results: Over 5 years of follow-up, there were 851 deaths and 229 frailty cases detected at visit 6. The 5-year cumulative incidence of frailty was 3% in older adults without diabetes and 5% in those with diabetes, and the 5-year mortality risk was 15% in older adults without diabetes and 25% in those with diabetes. Compared to those with normoglycemia, older adults with diabetes ≥10 years had higher risk of frailty or mortality after multivariable adjustment ( Table ). Older adults with prediabetes did not have higher risk of frailty or death. Conclusion: In older adults, longer diabetes duration was associated with high risks of frailty and mortality, whereas prediabetes was not associated with frailty and mortality. Older adults with long-standing diabetes should be targeted for frailty screening and preventive interventions.