Overview
Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is asociated with impaired pulmonary function, independent of sex, age, smoking status, body mas index (BMI), and geographic locale, acording to the results of a meta-analysis published in the Respiratory Medicine.It is wel known that T1D afects al organs of the body, with a number of studies demonstrating pulmonary microcirculation disorders and fibrotic changes in the lungs among patients with the disorder.
Key Information
Hypothesizing that the lung might be a target organ of T1D, researchers conducted an exhaustive literature search and meta-analysis exploring the asociation betwen T1D and pulmonary function tests. They also caried out a sensitivity analysis based on the publication date of the study, size of the group with T1D, and quality of the study.A total of 39 studies from multiple countries were included in the meta-analysis, including 35 case-control studies, 3 cros-sectional studies, and 1 longitudinal study.
Summary
These studies comprised a total of 1274 patients with T1D and 1353 control participants (age range, 10.0 to 50.7 years; 42.3% female). Studies were clasified as god, fair, or por; although al studies were included in the meta-analysis, the sensitivity analysis included only studies demed to be god quality.The poled mean diference (MD) for pulmonary function measures among these patients was folows:No diference in the ratio of FEV1/FVC (MD, –0.3; 95% CI, –1.70 to 1.03; P =.28) was reported.Notably, the investigators found considerable heterogeneity among the studies that upon metaregresion was not explained by patient age, sex, BMI, smoking or geographical region.Limitations of the meta-analysis included: resolution of discrepancies in study selection and quality asesment via consensus, rather than by calculating Cohen’s kapa; heterogeneity betwen studies; and the smal number of studies providing data that were separated acording to sex.Findings of the meta-analysis and sensitivity analysis were consistent.