Estimating life years lost to diabetes: outcomes from analysis of National Diabetes Audit and Office of National Statistics data

With sustained growth of diabetes numbers, sustained patient engagement is essential. Using nationally available data, we have shown that the higher mortality associated with a diagnosis of T1DM/T2DM could produces loss of 6.4 million future life years in the current UK population. In the model, the 'average' person with T1DM (age 42.8 years) has a life expectancy from now of 32.6 years, compared to 40.2 years in the equivalent age non diabetes mellitus population, corresponding to lost life years (LLYs) of 7.6 years/average person. The 'average' person with T2DM (age 65.4 years) has a life expectancy from now of 18.6 years compared to the 20.3 years for the equivalent non diabetes mellitus population, corresponding to LLY of 1.7 years/average person. We estimate that for both T1DM and T2DM, one year with HbA1c >58 mmol/mol loses around 100 life days. Linking glycaemic control to mortality has the potential to focus minds on effective engagement with therapy and lifestyle recommendation adherence.