The predictive value of visual acuity at diabetes diagnosis and 6 years later for the two primary outcomes: all-cause death and diabetes-related death
| Period I (6 years) From diabetes diagnosis to 6 years later | Period II (13 years) From 6 to 19 years after diagnosis | |||||
| n | HR (95% CI) | P value | n | HR (95% CI) | P value | |
| All-cause death | ||||||
| Unadjusted | 1241 | 1.64 (1.47 to 1.84) | <0.0001 | 867 | 1.53 (1.42 to 1.65) | <0.0001 |
| Adjusted for: | ||||||
| A | 1241 | 1.31 (1.11 to 1.55) | 0.0019 | 867 | 1.16 (1.04 to 1.28) | 0.0053 |
| A+B | 1051 | 1.24 (1.02 to 1.51) | 0.032 | 734 | 1.14 (1.02 to 1.28) | 0.025 |
| A+C | 1177 | 1.63 (1.23 to 2.15) | 0.0006 | 746 | 1.11 (0.99 to 1.24) | 0.073 |
| A+D | 1235 | 1.28 (1.07 to 1.53) | 0.0074 | 840 | 1.14 (1.02 to 1.27) | 0.018 |
| A+E | 1213 | 1.27 (1.05 to 1.53) | 0.015 | 818 | 1.08 (0.97 to 1.21) | 0.16 |
| A+F | 1198 | 1.26 (1.07 to 1.50) | 0.0071 | 783 | 1.09 (0.96 to 1.24) | 0.20 |
| A+G | 1101 | 1.32 (1.04 to 1.68) | 0.025 | 718 | 1.28 (1.10 to 1.47) | 0.0006 |
| A+C+E+F* | 1134 | 1.51 (1.12 to 2.03) | 0.0074 | 678 | 1.03 (0.89 to 1.20) | 0.70 |
| Diabetes-related death | ||||||
| Unadjusted | 1241 | 1.61 (1.39 to 1.87) | <0.0001 | 863 | 1.59 (1.46 to 1.74) | <0.0001 |
| Adjusted for: | ||||||
| A | 1241 | 1.20 (0.93 to 1.54) | 0.16 | 863 | 1.23 (1.10 to 1.37) | 0.0004 |
| A+B | 1051 | 1.10 (0.82 to 1.48) | 0.52 | 731 | 1.22 (1.07 to 1.38) | 0.0021 |
| A+C | 1177 | 1.36 (0.94 to 1.97) | 0.11 | 743 | 1.17 (1.03 to 1.33) | 0.018 |
| A+D | 1235 | 1.15 (0.88 to 1.51) | 0.29 | 836 | 1.23 (1.09 to 1.39) | 0.0007 |
| A+E | 1213 | 1.12 (0.83 to 1.50) | 0.46 | 815 | 1.14 (1.00 to 1.29) | 0.046 |
| A+F | 1198 | 1.13 (0.87 to 1.47) | 0.35 | 782 | 1.12 (0.96 to 1.31) | 0.14 |
| A+G | 1101 | 1.17 (0.86 to 1.59) | 0.32 | 714 | 1.33 (1.13 to 1.56) | 0.0004 |
| A+C+E+F* | 1134 | 1.16 (0.77 to 1.75) | 0.49 | 681 | 1.05 (0.89 to 1.25) | 0.55 |
Values are numbers and HRs for a 1 unit increase in logMAR (the logarithmic value of visual acuity of the best seeing eye) from multivariable Cox regression models on time to death/event. Models were adjusted for groups of possible confounders: (A) background variables: sex and age; (B) sociodemographics: familial disposition to diabetes mellitus, living alone, education, and residence; (C) biochemical risk factors: diagnostic fasting plasma glucose (for period I), hba1c (for period II), total cholesterol, fasting triglycerides, urinary albumin, and serum creatinine; (D) clinical risk factors: height (in interaction with sex), weight (in interaction with sex), hypertension, and resting heart rate; (E) lifestyle variables: smoking, physical activity and trial arm; (F) chronic conditions: peripheral neuropathy, cardiovascular disease, and cancer (former or present); (G) eye pathologies: age-related macular degeneration (AMD), cataract, diabetic retinopathy, other retinopathy, and eye pressure.
*The combination of the groups of confounders presented in the final multivariable model was determined by sequential backward elimination of the groups for which the p value of the corresponding likelihood ratio test was higher than 0.05, until all remaining tests had p<0.05. Adjustments after backward elimination turned out to be the same for period I and period II for diabetes-related death, but the adjustment for all-cause death in period II was A+C+D+E+F.