Differences in lipid and blood pressure measurements between individuals with type 1 diabetes and the general population

Abstract

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a precarious complication of type 1 diabetes (T1D). Alongside glycaemic control, lipid and blood pressure (BP) management are essential for the prevention of CVD. However, age-specific differences in lipid and BP between individuals with T1D and the general population are relatively unknown. We therefore compared total-, LDL-cholesterol, systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) in individuals with T1D and the general population. Methods: Cross-sectional data from individuals with T1D visiting six outpatient clinics in the Netherlands were compared to a background population without diabetes from the Lifelines cohort, a multigenerational cohort from the Northern Netherlands. Descriptive statistics were calculated stratified by age group, sex and medication use. Results: In total 2,178 individuals with T1D and 146,822 without diabetes were included in this study. Total- and LDL-cholesterol were lower and SBP and DBP were higher in individuals with T1D in comparison to the background population. When stratified by age and medication use, total- and LDL-cholesterol were lower and SBP and DBP higher in the T1D population. Males with T1D achieved lower LDL-cholesterol levels both with and without medication in older age groups in comparison to females. Females with T1D had up to 8mmHg higher SBP compared to the background population, this difference was not present in males. Conclusion: Lipid and BP measurements are not comparable between individuals with T1D and the general population and are particularly unfavourable for BP in the T1D group. There are potential sex differences in the management of LDL-cholesterol and BP.