Association between Platelet Indices and Diabetes Mellitus in Tabari Cohort Population

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder. There are reports on the association between platelet indices and chronic diseases. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between platelet indices and diabetes mellitus in a large-scale population based cohort study.

In this cross-sectional study, we utilized data collected from Tabari Cohort Study (TCS). In enrollment phase of TCS, 10251 people participated. Following ethics committee approval, laboratory parameters, including fasting blood sugar (FBS), platelet count (PLT), plateletcrit (PCT), platelet distribution width (PDW), and mean platelet volume (MPV) were measured. Other variables such as age, gender, socioeconomic level, education, place of residence, smoking, physical activity, and waist circumference were also collected. Chi-squared test, independent t-test, and logistic regression were applied to analyze the data.

Among total population studied, 17.2% (n=1765) had diabetes. Multivariate logistic regression showed that odds of having diabetes in participants with PCT levels of 0.17-0.19 (95% CI=0.71-0.98) were 0.83 higher compared to those with PCT level less than 0.17. On the other hand, OR of having diabetes in participants with MPV levels of 7.70-7.89 and 7.90-8.29 were 1.24 (95% CI=1.04-1.47) and 1.18 (95% CI=1.02-1.36), respectively.

The study showed that PCT levels of 0.17-0.19 have a protective role against diabetes, and MPV levels of 7.70-7.89 and 7.90 - 8.29 could predict the risk of developing diabetes. These findings are resulted from a cross-sectional study, therefore, should be interpreted with caution.