Evidence of a Bi-Directional Relationship between Arterial Stiffness and Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies.

Background: There are numerous cross-sectional studies showing an association between arterial stiffness and diabetes, but the temporality of the association is unclear.

Objective: To investigate the temporal relationship between arterial stiffness and diabetes.

Methods: We searched MEDLINE and Embase from inception to 31 August 2023, to identify cohort studies that assessed whether arterial stiffness, as measured by pulse wave velocity (PWV), was predictive of the development of diabetes and vice versa.