Open Access Highly Accessed Original investigation

Reduced lung function is independently associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes in Korean men

Chang-Hee Kwon1†, Eun-Jung Rhee2†, Jae-Uk Song3, Jung-Tae Kim4, Hyon Joo Kwag5 and Ki-Chul Sung6*

Author Affiliations

1 Department of Cardiology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea

2 Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea

3 Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea

4 Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea

5 Department of Radiology, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

6 Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 108 Pyung-dong, Jongno-Ku, Seoul, 110-746, South Korea

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Cardiovascular Diabetology 2012, 11:38 doi:10.1186/1475-2840-11-38

Published: 24 April 2012

Abstract

Background

Reduced lung function is associated with incident insulin resistance and diabetes. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between lung function and incident type 2 diabetes in Korean men.

Methods

This study included 9,220 men (mean age: 41.4 years) without type 2 diabetes at baseline who were followed for five years. Subjects were divided into four groups according to baseline forced vital capacity (FVC) (% predicted) and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) (% predicted) quartiles. The incidence of type 2 diabetes at follow-up was compared according to FVC and FEV1 quartiles.

Results

The overall incidence of type 2 diabetes was 2.2%. Reduced lung function was significantly associated with the incidence of type 2 diabetes after adjusting for age, BMI, education, smoking, exercise, alcohol, and HOMA-IR. Both FVC and FEV1 were negatively associated with type 2 diabetes (P < 0.05). In non-obese subjects with BMI < 25, the lowest quartile of FVC and FEV1 had a significantly higher odds ratio for type 2 diabetes compared with the highest quartile after adjusting for age and BMI (2.15 [95% CI 1.02-4.57] and 2.19 [95% CI 1.09-4.42]).

Conclusions

Reduced lung function is independently associated with the incidence of type 2 diabetes in Korean men.

Keywords:
Lung function; Type 2 diabetes mellitus; Retrospective study