Association between cardiovascular disease and kidney disease in a sample of real-world diabetes patients

Abstract

Objectives: Kidney disease is one of the microvascular complications of diabetes mellitus (DM) with little research and a strong association with cardiovascular disease (CVD). The objective of this study is to characterize the prevalence of kidney disease in a population of patients with type 2 diabetes who attend outpatient control by cardiology, to evaluate its degree of investigation and whether its presence impacts on the achievement of therapeutic goals and use of antidiabetics with cardiovascular and kidney protective effect. Methods: Cross-sectional, observational and multicenter study, carried out in 44 centers in Argentina between May and July 2019. Results: A population with 693 patients with DM was included. The prevalence of CVD was 47.5% (329 patients) and that of microvascular disease was 42.3%. Albuminuria was evaluated only in 46.2% of the patients and was significantly higher in the group with renal impairment (RI). The presence of CVD in patients with RI was greater than in those without RI (64.8% vs. 42.2%; p = 0.0001). The presence of albuminuria was associated with a higher prevalence of CVD. The achievement of therapeutic goals was scarce and no differences were evidenced based on the presence of RI, except for the LDL goal. Low prescription of antidiabetic drugs with proven cardiovascular and kidney benefit was observed. Conclusions: This study highlights the importance of the active search for kidney disease in patients with DM, exposing the low scope of therapeutic goals and the prescription of antidiabetic drugs with cardiovascular and kidney benefit.