Diabetes mellitus is a risk factor for incident chronic kidney disease: A nationwide cohort study

Objective Diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease are multifactorial conditions with multiple etiologies that share similar pathophysiologies. This nationwide cohort study examined the impact of diabetes mellitus on the follow-up development of chronic kidney disease. Methods By retrieving the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2005, 5121 patients with diabetes mellitus were included in this study and 5121 patients without diabetes mellitus, who were matched according to sex, age, and Charlson comorbidity index made up the control group. The adjusted hazard ratios for chronic kidney disease were calculated using Cox proportional hazards regression analysis. Kaplan–Meier analysis was used to estimate the cumulative incidence of chronic kidney disease rate in the diabetes mellitus and control groups. Results After adjusting for sex, age, and Charlson comorbidity index score, the diabetes mellitus group had a 1.380 times higher (95% CI: 1.277–1.492) risk of developing chronic kidney disease than the control group. Further stratified analysis showed that patients with diabetes mellitus had a significantly higher risk of developing chronic kidney disease regardless of their sex, age, and Charlson comorbidity index score, compared to those without diabetes mellitus. Conclusions There is a possibility that diabetes mellitus serves as an independent risk factor for chronic kidney disease development. Early screening and monitoring of diabetes mellitus appear to be of great importance in the prevention of chronic kidney disease.