The combined effect of CRP and blood pressure on the risk of mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes

To examine the effects of C-reactive protein (CRP) and blood pressure (BP) on the risk of all-cause mortality in diabetic patients. Data were obtained from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. Participants with type 2 diabetes in 2011 (baseline) and participated at least one subsequent survey (2013, 2015, and 2018) were included in this study. Participants were divided into 6 groups according to their CRP and BP status. Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to analyze the risk of all-cause mortality among different groups. This study included 1631 diabetic patients aged 60.7 ± 9.2 years old. During the 7-year follow-up period, 212 (13.0%) death occurred. High CRP (HR 1.94, 95% CI 1.45-2.61) and hypertension (HR 2.01, 95% CI 1.31-3.08) were independently associated with increased risks for all-cause mortality among participants. The respective HRs (95% CI) of mortality for participants in low CRP/prehypertension, low CRP/ hypertension, high CRP/normotension, high CRP/prehypertension, high CRP/hypertension group were 1.97 (1.12-3.48), 2.19 (1.24-3.88), 3.50 (1.67-7.33), 2.03 (1.00-4.09), and 4.79 (2.68-8.57), in comparison with the low CRP/normotension group. The combination of high CRP and high BP significantly increased the risk of all-cause mortality in Chinese diabetic patients.