Cardiovascular complications and drug prescriptions in subjects with and without diabetes in a Northern region of Italy, in 2002 and 2012

Background and aims In contrast to the well-documented global prevalence of diabetes, much less is known about the epidemiology of cardiovascular (CV) complications in recent years. We describe the incidence of major CV events, deaths and drug prescribing patterns from 2002 to 2012 in subjects with (DM) or without diabetes mellitus (No DM). Methods and results Subjects and outcomes were identified using linkable health administrative databases of Lombardy, a region in Northern Italy. A logistic regression model was used to compare myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, major amputation and death between DM and No DM in 2002 and 2012 and between the two index years in each population. The interaction between years and diabetes was introduced in the model. From 2002 to 2012 the incidence of major CV complications and death fell in both groups with a larger reduction among DM only for CV events: OR (95% CI) for the interaction 0.86 (0.79–0.93) for MI, 0.89 (0.82–0.96) for stroke, 0.78 (0.57–1.06) for major amputations. CV prevention drugs rose considerably from 2002 to 2012 particularly in DM and a switch towards safer antihyperglycemic drugs was also observed. Conclusions Major CV complications and death declined from 2002 to 2012 in both DM and No DM. This might be due to a larger increase in prescriptions of CV drugs in DM and a relevant change toward recommended antihyperglycemic drugs.