The excess risk for heart failure associated with diabetes is significantly greater in women than men, according to a meta-analysis published online in Diabetologia.

Toshiaki Ohkuma, Ph.D., from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, and colleagues conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine possible sex differences in the excess risk for heart failure consequent to diabetes. Studies that reported sex-specific estimates of relative risks (RRs) for heart failure associated with diabetes were included. Pooled sex-specific RRs were obtained, and the authors assessed the women-to-men ratio of RRs (RRRs) for heart failure associated with diabetes.

Data were included for 47 cohorts with 12,142,998 individuals and 253,260 heart failure events. The researchers found that the pooled multiple-adjusted RR for heart failure associated with type 1 diabetes was 5.15 and 3.47 in women and men, respectively, yielding a RRR of 1.47. For heart failure associated with type 2 diabetes, the corresponding RRs were 1.95 and 1.74 in women and men, respectively, yielding a pooled RRR of 1.09.

"The excess risk of heart failure following diagnosis of diabetes is significantly greater in women than men, highlighting the importance of intensive prevention and treatment of diabetes for women as well as men," the authors write.

One author disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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