Relationship Between Diet Quality and Glucose-Lowering Medication Intensity Among Adults With Type 2 Diabetes:...

In real-world settings, whether diet and medication are used as complements for glycemic management in type 2 diabetes (T2D) remains unclear. This study assessed the relationship between diet quality and intensity of glucose-lowering medication among adults with T2D.

This cross-sectional study included 352 adults with T2D from the CARTaGENE Québec population-based cohort. Diet quality was assessed using the Healthful Plant-Based Diet Index (hPDI). Glucose-lowering medication intensity was graded according to self-reported information on the type and number of drugs: no medication; oral monotherapy; oral polytherapy; and insulin with and without oral medication. In the subsample of 239 individuals who reported the medication dosages, intensity was also graded using the Medication Effect Score (MES).

In multivariable-adjusted models, we found no evidence of a relationship between the hPDI and medication intensity, assessed using the categorical approach (P_{between-group} = 0.25) or the MES (P = 0.43). However, the hPDI was inversely associated with the MES among men < 50 years of age and women < 60 years (β_{1-point MES} = -2.24 [95% confidence interval, -4.46, -0.02] hPDI points), but not among older individuals (β = -0.03 [-1.28, 1.21] hPDI points). Evidence of a nonsignificant inverse relationship between the hPDI and HbA1c was observed (β_{10-point hPDI} = -0.23% [-0.63, 0.17]), whereas a positive and significant association between the MES and hemoglobin (Hb)A1c was found (β_{1-point MES} = 0.30% [0.10, 0.51]).

In this cohort of adults with T2D, there was an overall lack of complementarity between diet quality and intensity of glucose-lowering medication. The issue was particularly important among younger adults for whom diet quality was inversely associated with intensity of medication.