Causes of Death in a Cohort of 477 Patients With Type 1 Diabetes between 2019 and 2023

Abstract

One of the goals of diabetes treatment is to ensure longevity, and investigation of the causes of death is extremely important to develop treatment strategies to achieve this goal. Given that the treatment environment for patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) is constantly changing due to societal changes and advances in treatment methods, the purpose of this study was to investigate the most recent causes of death among patients with T1D. Therefore, we created a cohort consisting of 477 adult patients with T1D who visited the Juntendo Hospital or Aso Clinic from June to October 2019 and extracted the deaths. Seventeen deaths were identified by the end of August 2023. Causes of death were classified into three groups: (1) sudden death and suicide, (2) infectious diseases (septicemia in patients with collagen disease), and (3) malignant tumors and aspiration pneumonia. The patients in group (1) included relatively young patients. The patients in group (2) were all on steroids for collagen disease, and group (3) was considered a common cause of death in the elderly. These results suggest that it is important to consider the possible causes of death in the context of the patient's background and select an intervention method.