Sex Differences in Diabetes-Associated Risk for Stroke

Compared with men, women have higher relative risk for fatal coronary heart disease associated with diabetes, even after adjustment for differences in other cardiovascular risk factors. Is the same true for stroke? To find out, researchers analyzed data from 64 cohort studies (>775,000 adults with and without diabetes), conducted in various countries, in which sex-specific relative risks were reported for fatal and nonfatal strokes; follow-up ranged from 5 to 32 years.

After adjustment for multiple other risk factors, relative risk for fatal or nonfatal stroke associated with diabetes was 2.28 in women and 1.83 in men — a significant difference. These risks were not affected significantly by study duration, year of study enrollment, region, …