Aims: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) involves many organ systems and is associated with a wide range of neurologic complications. However, it is not known whether T2DM is a risk factor of hydrocephalus.
Methods: Research data were retrieved from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan. A total of 25,903 individuals with T2DM aged 40-80 years diagnosed during 2000-2003 and two times-number (n=51,806) age- and sex-matched comparisons during the same period were included. We tracked all individuals from their defined index visits for up to 5 years to detect a new diagnosis of hydrocephalus.
Results: Among the 25,903 patients, 9227 cases were newly diagnosed T2DM and 16,676 were pre-existing T2DM patients. During the follow-up period, 27 (0.3%) of the newly diagnosed T2DM patients, 97 (0.6%) of the pre-existing T2DM patients and 149 (0.3%) of the comparison group developed hydrocephalus. The risk of hydrocephalus was significantly increased in patients with pre-existing diabetes but not in patients with newly diagnosed diabetes.
Conclusions: Longer duration of type 2 diabetes is associated with an increased risk of the development of hydrocephalus. Further studies to confirm such association and to investigate the causality and mechanism are needed.
Keywords: DM; Diabetes; Hydrocephalus; National Health Insurance Research; Risk factors.
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