Comparison of outcomes between type 2 diabetic and non-diabetic incident hemodialysis patients with functioning arteriovenous fistulas

This study compared clinical outcomes of patient survival and arteriovenous fistula (AVF) patency between incident hemodialysis patients with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Between January 2011 and December 2013, 384 consecutive incident hemodialysis patients with confirmed first upper-extremity AVF placement were divided into a T2DM group (n=180, 46.9%) and a non-DM group (n=204, 53.1%) and analyzed retrospectively. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality, and secondary outcome was AVF patency. Patients in the T2DM group had a higher prevalence of hypertension (P=.02), smoking (P<.01), cardiovascular disease (P<.01), history of cerebrovascular accident (CVA) (P<.01), and peripheral arterial occlusive disease (P<.01) than those in the non-DM group. On Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, the overall survival and AVF patency rates were significantly higher in the non-DM group relative to the T2DM group (both P<.01). In the adjusted model, older age (hazard ratio [HR], 1.04; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02-1.06; P<.01), T2DM (HR, 1.76; 95% CI, 1.12-2.77; P=.014), and history of CVA (HR, 1.76; 95% CI, 1.04-2.98; P=.04) were significantly associated with an increased risk of mortality. Older age and T2DM were independently associated with decreased primary (HR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.02-1.04; P<.01, HR, 1.69; 95% CI, 1.22-2.33; P<.01, respectively) and secondary (HR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.01-1.04; P<.01, HR, 2.07; 95% CI, 1.42-3.00; P<.01, respectively) AVF patency during follow-up. Compared with patients in the non-DM group, patients in the T2DM group had a higher mortality rate and worse AVF patency rates.