Fasting glucose variability and risk of dementia in Parkinson’s disease: a 9-year longitudinal follow-up study of a nationwide cohort

Background: Diabetes is associated with an increased risk of Parkinson’s disease dementia (PDD); however, it is unknown whether this association is dependent on continuous hyperglycemia, hypoglycemic events, or glycemic variability. We aimed to investigate the relationship between visit-to-visit fasting glucose variability and PDD development in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Methods: Using data from the Korean National Health Insurance Service, we examined 9,264 patients aged ≥40 years with de novo Parkinson’s disease (PD) who underwent ≥3 health examinations and were followed up until December 2019. Glucose variability was measured using the coefficient of variation, variability independent of the mean, and average real variability. Fine and Gray competing regression analysis was performed to determine the effect of glucose variability on incident PDD. Results: During the 9.5-year follow-up period, 1,757 of 9,264 (19.0%) patients developed PDD. Patients with a higher visit-to-visit glucose variability had a higher risk of future PDD. In the multivariable adjusted model, patients with PD in the highest quartile (subdistribution hazard ratio [SHR] = 1.50, 95% CI 1.19 to 1.88), quartile 3 (SHR = 1.29, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.62), and quartile 2 (SHR = 1.30, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.63) were independently associated with a higher risk of PDD than those in the lowest quartile. Conclusion: We highlighted the effect of long-term glucose variability on the development of PDD in patients with PD. Furthermore, our findings suggest that preventive measures for constant glucose control may be necessary to prevent PDD.