Risk factors for the development of glucocorticoid-induced diabetes mellitus

- This study revealed risk factors for glucocorticoid-induced diabetes mellitus.
- We analyzed inpatients with rheumatic or renal disease who started glucocorticoid therapy.
- An older age, higher HbA1c level and lower eGFR were identified as risk factors.

AimsTo evaluate the incidence of glucocorticoid-induced diabetes mellitus (GC-DM) by repeated measurements of the postprandial glucose and detect predictors for the development of GC-DM.MethodsInpatients with rheumatic or renal disease who received glucocorticoid therapy were enrolled in this study. We compared the clinical and laboratory parameters of the GC-DM group with the non-GC-DM group and performed a multivariate analysis to identify risk factors.ResultsDuring a four-week period, 84 of the 128 patients (65.6%) developed GC-DM. All patients were diagnosed based on the detection of postprandial hyperglycemia. The GC-DM group had an older age (65.2 vs. 50.4 years, p < 0.0001), higher levels of fasting plasma glucose (93.3 vs. 89.0 mg/dl, p = 0.027) and HbA1c (5.78 vs. 5.50%, 39.7 vs. 36.6 mmol/mol, p = 0.001) and lower eGFR values (54.0 vs. 77.1 ml/min/1.73 m2, p = 0.0003) than the non-GC-DM group. According to the multivariate analysis, an older age (more than or equal to 65 years), higher HbA1c level (more than or equal to 6.0%) and lower eGFR (<40 ml/min/1.73 m2) were identified as independent risk factors for GC-DM (OR 2.95, 95% CI 1.15-7.92, OR: 3.05, 95% CI 1.11-9.21, OR: 3.42, 95% CI: 1.22-10.8, respectively). The risk ratio for the development of GC-DM in the patients with at least one of these three risk factors was 2.28. The dose of glucocorticoids was not statistically related to the development of GC-DM.ConclusionsPatients with an older age, higher HbA1c level and lower eGFR require close monitoring for the development of GC-DM, regardless of the dose of glucocorticoids being administered.