Table 1. Demographic and clinical baseline characteristics for the overall study population and for the longitudinal trajectory clusters.
| Characteristic | Overall Population | Stable cluster | Descending cluster | Ascending cluster | Undefined Cluster | p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (n = 85,783) | (n = 45,679) | (n = 6,084) | (n = 8,660) | (n = 25,360) | |||
| Age* | Mean (SD) | 63.6 (13.4) | 66.0 (12.0) | 62.0 (12.2) | 59.9 (12.0) | 61.0 (15.4) | <0.001 |
| Sex | Female | 45,129 (52.6%) | 25,313 (55.4%) | 3,061 (50.3%) | 4,362 (50.4%) | 12,393 (48.9%) | |
| Male | 40,654 (47.4%) | 20,366 (44.6%) | 3,023 (49.7%) | 4,298 (49.6%) | 12,967 (51.1%) | <0.001 | |
| SES | Low | 24,186 (28.3%) | 11,866 (26.0%) | 2,257 (37.2%) | 2,887 (33.5%) | 7,176 (28.4%) | |
| Medium | 35,678 (41.7%) | 19,465 (42.7%) | 2,349 (38.7%) | 3,525 (40.9%) | 10,339 (40.9%) | <0.001 | |
| High | 25,673 (30.0%) | 14,239 (31.2%) | 1,468 (24.2%) | 2,213 (25.7%) | 7,753 (30.7%) | ||
| Missing (%) | 246 (0.3%) | 109 (0.2%) | 10 (0.2%) | 35 (0.4%) | 92 (0.4%) | ||
| HbA1c (%)† | Mean (SD) | 7.5 (1.7) | 7.1 (1.2) | 7.8 (1.8) | 8.7 (1.9) | 7.7 (2.0) | |
| Median (IQR) | 7.0 (6.4–8.0) | 6.8 (6.4–7.5) | 7.4 (6.6–8.7) | 8.3 (7.3–9.9) | 7.0 (6.3–8.6) | <0.001 | |
| HbA1c (mmol/mol) † | Mean (SD) | 58.3 (18.4) | 54.2 (13.4) | 62.1 (19.7) | 71.9 (21.2) | 60.4 (22.2) | |
| Median (IQR) | 53.0 (46.5–63.9) | 50.8 (46.5–58.5) | 57.4 (48.6–71.6) | 67.2 (56.3–84.7) | 53.0 (45.4–70.5) | <0.001 | |
| Missing (%) | 3,900 (4.5%) | 519 (1.1%) | 88 (1.4%) | 93 (1.1%) | 3,200 (12.6%) | ||
| Diabetes Duration (months) | Mean (SD) | 62.4 (14.1) | 60.8 (14.1) | 65.6 (13.8) | 64.0 (14.0) | 62.6 (14.1) | |
| Median (IQR) | 63.0 (50.0–75.0) | 60.0 (48.0–73.0) | 68.0 (55.0–78.0) | 65.0 (52.0–77.0) | 63.0 (50.0–75.0) | <0.001 | |
| Smoking status | Non smoker | 55,112 (65.2%) | 30,375 (67.1%) | 3,746 (62.0%) | 5,290 (61.5%) | 15,701 (64.0%) | |
| Current smoker | 16,020 (19.0%) | 7,151 (15.8%) | 1,312 (21.7%) | 1,913 (22.2%) | 5,644 (23.0%) | <0.001 | |
| Past smoker | 13,343 (15.8%) | 7,770 (17.2%) | 981 (16.2%) | 1,400 (16.3%) | 3,192 (13.0%) | ||
| Missing (%) | 1,308 (1.5%) | 383 (0.8%) | 45 (0.7%) | 57 (0.7%) | 823 (3.2%) | ||
| BMI | Mean (SD) | 30.3 (5.9) | 30.3 (5.7) | 30.7 (6.0) | 31.4 (6.1) | 29.8 (6.0) | <0.001 |
| (kg/m2) | |||||||
| <18.5 | 320 (0.4%) | 137 (0.3%) | 26 (0.4%) | 23 (0.3%) | 134 (0.6%) | ||
| 18.5–24.9 | 13,250 (15.8%) | 6,907 (15.3%) | 857 (14.2%) | 1,002 (11.7%) | 4,484 (18.8%) | <0.001 | |
| 25–29.9 | 31,346 (37.5%) | 17,254 (38.1%) | 2,151 (35.7%) | 2,878 (33.5%) | 9,063 (38.1%) | ||
| 30–34.9 | 23,488 (28.1%) | 12,845 (28.4%) | 1,766 (29.3%) | 2,608 (30.4%) | 6,269 (26.3%) | ||
| 35+ | 15,236 (18.2%) | 8,085 (17.9%) | 1,232 (20.4%) | 2,076 (24.2%) | 3,843 (16.2%) | ||
| Missing (%) | 2,143 (2.5%) | 451 (1.0%) | 52 (0.9%) | 73 (0.8%) | 1,567 (6.2%) | ||
| Previous | Macrovascular | 8,923 (10.4%) | 5,032 (11.0%) | 787 (12.9%) | 939 (10.8%) | 2,165 (8.5%) | <0.001 |
| Comorbidities | Microvascular | 18,307 (21.3%) | 10,099 (22.1%) | 1,930 (31.7%) | 2,504 (28.9%) | 3,774 (14.9%) | <0.001 |
| Hypoglycemia | 8,019 (9.3%) | 3,742 (8.2%) | 828 (13.6%) | 801 (9.2%) | 2,648 (10.4%) | <0.001 | |
| Hypertension | 29,828 (34.8%) | 16,584 (36.3%) | 2,421 (39.8%) | 3,299 (38.1%) | 7,524 (29.7%) | <0.001 | |
| Non-CKD | 65,257 (91.5%) | 34,812 (90.0%) | 4,586 (91.8%) | 6,952 (93.4%) | 18,907 (93.4%) | <0.001 | |
| CKD | |||||||
| CKD 3A | 4,009 (5.6%) | 2,601 (6.7%) | 238 (4.8%) | 310 (4.2%) | 860 (4.2%) | ||
| CKD 3B | 1,187 (1.7%) | 732 (1.9%) | 75 (1.5%) | 89 (1.2%) | 291 (1.4%) | ||
| CKD 4 | 270 (0.4%) | 158 (0.4%) | 27 (0.5%) | 32 (0.4%) | 53 (0.3%) | ||
| CKD5/RRT | 615 (0.9%) | 361 (1.0%) | 65 (1.3%) | 61 (0.9%) | 128 (0.7%) | ||
| Unknown | 14,445 (16.8%) | 7,015 (15.4%) | 1,093 (18.0%) | 1,216 (14.0%) | 5,121 (20.2%) | ||
| Type 2 diabetes treatment medication class | Insulin (fast-acting) | 1,818 (2.1%) | 792 (1.7%) | 392 (6.4%) | 341 (3.9%) | 293 (1.2%) | <0.001 |
| Insulin (non-exclusively fast-acting) | 4,147 (4.8%) | 1,704 (3.7%) | 852 (14.0%) | 895 (10.3%) | 696 (2.7%) | <0.001 | |
| Biguanides | 59,572 (69.4%) | 34,479 (75.5%) | 5,162 (84.8%) | 7,390 (85.3%) | 12,541 (49.5%) | <0.001 | |
| Sulfonamides | 13,436 (15.7%) | 6,582 (14.4%) | 1,735 (28.5%) | 2,223 (25.7%) | 2,896 (11.4%) | <0.001 | |
| Thiazolidines | 1,044 (1.2%) | 527 (1.2%) | 249 (4.1%) | 149 (1.7%) | 119 (0.5%) | <0.001 | |
| DDP-4 Inhibitors | 2,030 (2.4%) | 1,133 (2.5%) | 198 (3.3%) | 420 (4.8%) | 279 (1.1%) | <0.001 | |
| Non-Insulin only | 58,582 (68.3%) | 34,402 (75.3%) | 4,583 (75.3%) | 6,883 (79.5%) | 12,714 (50.1%) | ||
| Type 2 diabetes treatment type | Insulin +/- Non-insulin | 4,892 (5.7%) | 2,029 (4.4%) | 1,014 (16.7%) | 1,030 (11.9%) | 819 (3.2%) | <0.001 |
| No treatment | 22,309 (26.0%) | 9,248 (20.2%) | 487 (8.0%) | 747 (8.6%) | 11,827 (46.6%) | ||
| Other chronic medications | Beta-blockers | 22,830 (26.6%) | 13,687 (30.0%) | 1,602 (26.3%) | 2,162 (25.0%) | 5,379 (21.2%) | <0.001 |
| Ca-Blockers | 18,348 (21.4%) | 11,292 (24.7%) | 1,258 (20.7%) | 1,596 (18.4%) | 4,202 (16.6%) | <0.001 | |
| ACE/ARB | 33,663 (39.2%) | 19,459 (42.6%) | 2,819 (46.3%) | 3,722 (43.0%) | 7,663 (30.2%) | <0.001 | |
| Statins | 36,220 (42.2%) | 21,485 (47.0%) | 2,805 (46.1%) | 3,711 (42.9%) | 8,219 (32.4%) | <0.001 |
Note: Values for continuous variables were presented as mean (SD) and median (IQR). For categorical variables, the n (%) format was used.
Abbreviations: SD, standard deviation; IQR, interquartile range; SES, socioeconomic status; HbA1c, glycated hemoglobin; BMI, body mass index; CKD, chronic kidney disease; RRT, renal replacement therapy; DDP-4 inhibitor, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor; Ca-blocker, calcium blocker; ACE, Angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors; ARB, Angiotensin II receptor blockers.
*Age at the date of the index HbA1c measure.
†First HbA1c level after the index date (post-index HbA1c).