Risk of Neurodegenerative Diseases in Elderly Koreans with an Initial Diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes: A Nationwide Retrospective Cohort Study

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) and neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) are common among elderly individuals. Growing evidence has indicated a strong link between T2D and NDs, such as Alzheimer's disease. However, previous studies have limitations in exploring the epidemiological relationship among these diseases as a group of NDs rather than as a specific type of ND. We aimed to investigate the risk of NDs in elderly Koreans who were first diagnosed with T2D and determine the association between T2D and NDs. We conducted a retrospective longitudinal cohort study of patients with who were initially diagnosed with T2D using the Korean National Health Information Database. The study participants were categorized into a T2D group (n = 155,459) and a control group (n = 155,459), aged 60–84 years, that were matched for age, sex, and comorbidities. We followed the participants for 10 years to investigate the incidence of NDs. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for NDs. The numbers of patients diagnosed with ND at the end of follow-up were as follows: 51,096/155,459 (32.9%) in the T2D group and 44,673/155,459 (28.7%) in the control group (χ2 = 622.53, p < 0.001). The incidences of NDs in the T2D and control groups were 44.68 (95% CI: 44.29, 45.07) and 36.89 (95% CI: 36.55, 37.24) cases per 1,000 person-years at risk, respectively. The overall incidence of NDs was higher in the T2D group than that in the control group (HR: 1.23, 95% CI: 1.22, 1.25, p < 0.001). This study revealed a higher incidence of NDs in elderly Koreans who were initially diagnosed with T2D. This suggests that T2D is a risk factor for NDs in elderly Koreans.