Combined association of skeletal muscle mass and grip strength with cardiovascular diseases in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Background: Appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM) and grip strength (GS) have been suggested to be related to cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), but their association with type 2 diabetes (T2D) remains unclear. Therefore, we examined the combined association of ASM and GS with the prevalence of CVD in patients with T2D. Methods: A total of 1230 patients with T2D were recruited and divided into four groups based on the sex‐specific median values of ASM adjusted for body mass index (ASM/BMI; short: SM) and GS: high SM/high GS (HSM/HGS), high SM/low GS (HSM/LGS), low SM/high GS (LSM/HGS), and low SM/low GS (LSM/LGS). Results: The LSM/LGS group was older and had higher values of systolic blood pressure, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance, waist circumference, and C‐reactive protein but lower high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations than the HSM/HGS group. After adjusting for potential confounders, the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs for CVD, coronary heart disease (CHD), ischemic stroke, and peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in the LSM/LGS group were 2.90 (1.89‐4.47), 2.39 (1.46‐3.92), 1.77 (0.84‐3.71), and 5.83 (1.58‐21.48), respectively. After adjusting for variable confounders among patients with higher glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) (≥7.1%), the ORs and 95% CIs for CVD and CHD in the LSM/LGS group were 7.27 (3.37‐15.67) and 6.17 (2.65‐14.37), respectively. Conclusions: The combination of low SM and GS was strongly associated with CVD, CHD, and PAD in patients with T2D, especially in those with higher HbA1c levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]