title: Relationship between blood glucose level and mortality in type 2 diabetes mellitus: a systematic review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To review the relationship between blood glucose level and mortality in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) as reported in the literature.
  
  
  METHODS
  Literature search using Medline Search: January 1966 - April 1998.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Diabetes, Non Insulin Dependent, Mortality. Inclusion criteria for papers were: Type 2 DM; follow-up for at least 3 years; glucose or glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) was used as parameter; published in the form of an article. Additionally all references in the selected articles that dealt with the relationship between blood glucose level and mortality in Type 2 DM were included in the search.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-seven eligible articles were found. Twenty-three of them showed a positive association: measures of elevated blood glucose concentrations were associated with higher mortality; in 15 out of 23 studies the positive association was statistically significant, in two only for postprandial blood glucose. One study found a nonsignificant negative relationship in a very old population.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the literature there is a positive, but rather weak, association between the measures of blood glucose control and the risk of dying of patients with Type 2 DM. In the six larger studies (more than 100 deceased patients) that used a continuous categorization of glycaemia, the Risk ratio per unit varies from 1.03 to 1.12.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Practice, Leiden University Medical Centre, The Netherlands. Y.Groeneveld@genpractice.MedFac.LeidenUniv.NL
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Groeneveld
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Petri
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hermans
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Springer
mesh_terms: D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose