OBJECTIVE -To demonstrate the relation of exercise capacity and BMI to mortality in a population of male veterans with type 2 diabetes.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS -After excluding two underweight patients (BMI Ͻ18.5 kg/m 2 ), the study population comprised 831 consecutive patients with type 2 diabetes (mean age 61 Ϯ 9 years) referred for exercise testing for clinical reasons between 1995 and 2006. Exercise capacity was determined from a maximal exercise test and measured in metabolic equivalents (METs). Patients were classified both according to BMI category (18.5-24.9, 25.0 -29.9, and Ն30 kg/m 2 ) and by exercise capacity (Ͻ5.0 or Ն5.0 maximal METs). The association among exercise capacity, BMI, other clinical variables, and all-cause mortality was assessed by Cox proportional hazards. Study participants were followed for mortality up to 30 June 2006.RESULTS -During a mean follow-up of 4.8 Ϯ 3.0 years, 112 patients died, for an average annual mortality rate of 2.2%. Each 1-MET increase in exercise capacity conferred a 10% survival benefit (hazard ratio 0.90 [95% CI 0.82-0.98]; P ϭ 0.01), but BMI was not significantly associated with mortality. After adjustment for age, ethnicity, examination year, BMI, presence of cardiovascular disease (CVD), and CVD risk factors, diabetic patients achieving Ͻ5 maximal METs were 70% more likely to die (1.70 [1.13-2.54]) than those achieving Ն5 maximal METs.CONCLUSIONS -There was a strong inverse association between exercise capacity and mortality in this cohort of men with documented diabetes, and this relationship was independent of BMI.
Diabetes Care 30:1539-1543, 2007I ndividuals volunteering and qualifying for military service differ from the general population in several respects; most notably, they had to have met fitness and weight criteria at the time of their enlistment and must have maintained these levels for the duration of their service. For example, the maximum allowable weights for the various branches of service translate into a BMI of 25.9 -29.9 kg/m 2 (1). Therefore, obesity, when present in a veteran patient population, must have developed after discharge, thus providing an opportunity to evaluate the risk of mortality associated with low fitness and obesity developing in later life. While obesity is a well-recognized risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes (2), it is uncertain whether obesity is an independent mortality predictor in people already having the disease. Moreover, the association of fitness with mortality in patients with diabetes remains largely unexplored.Recent reports have suggested that mortality risk in men with type 2 diabetes is independent of BMI after adjustment for fitness (3,4). Because this observation runs contrary to current clinical beliefs, we decided to explore this further using a subpopulation of male veterans with documented type 2 diabetes from our exercise testing database.The primary aims of this study of male veterans with type 2 diabetes were to examine 1) the independent risks of mortality associated with l...