[Mortality among patients with diabetes mellitus in Warsaw--a 10-year prospective study]

In the period 1973/74-1983 a prospective observation was carried out on 4591 out-patients (2095 males and 2496 females) aged 18-68, with predominantly non-insulin treated diabetes of 1-10 years' duration. During the ten years period over a third of initial cohort died. Age-standardized mortality rate was twice that for the general population of Warsaw for the median year 1978. The risk of death rose with decreasing age, especially in females. The most frequent causes of death were cardiovascular diseases, particularly coronary heart disease, standardized mortality ratios amounting to 2.7 and 2.4 respectively. Among diabetic cohort the risk of death was also higher for nephritis, nephrosis, cirrhosis of the liver and pneumonia. No excess death rate could be found for tuberculosis, malignant neoplasms, and diabetes itself. Diabetic patients were less frequently exposed to accidental deaths than the general population of Warsaw. The mortality diabetic patients in Warsaw was similar to that seen in most of the developed countries with the exception of the higher mortality due to cirrhosis of the liver and smaller due to accident, trauma and poisoning.