Prevalence and impact of diabetes mellitus in patients with acute myocardial infarction: a 10-year experience.

Background: Diabetes mellitus is associated with a higher incidence of acute myocardial infarction.

Objective: To study the prevalence and outcome of patients with diabetes among patients with acute myocardial infarction.

Methods: Retrospectively, patients who presented with acute myocardial infarction in a 10-year period were identified from the coronary care unit database.

Results: A total of 1598 Qatari patients were admitted with acute myocardial infarction, 863 (54%) of them had diabetes mellitus (females 68.5% vs males 48.3%; P < .001). In-hospital mortality rate was non-significantly higher in diabetic patients (18% vs 15% P = .15). Aspirin (odds ratio 2.39, 95% confidence interval 1.96-2.90, P = .003] and beta-blocker use (odds ratio 1.75, 95% CI 1.21-2.52, P = .0001) were independently associated with reduced mortality risk.

Conclusions: The prevalence of diabetes mellitus among patients with acute myocardial infarction in a geographically defined population in the developing world is high with a trend for poor outcomes. However, mortality was not significantly higher in diabetes mellitus than non-diabetes mellitus patients.