Adult Body Height Is Associated with the Risk of Type 2 but Not Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: A Retrospective Cohort Study of 783,029 Individuals in Germany

Abstract

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a major global health burden associated with high morbidity and mortality. Although a short adult body height has been associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D), there are large inconsistencies between the studies. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the association between body height and T2D in a large cohort of adult outpatients in Germany. Methods: A total of 783,029 adult outpatients with available body height data from the Disease Analyzer (IQVIA) database were included in Germany between 2010 and 2020. The incidence of diabetes mellitus (type 1 and type 2) was evaluated as a function of the patients’ body height stratified by age, sex, and body-mass-index (BMI). Results: In both women and men in all age groups, incidence of T2D decreased with the increasing body height (<50, 51–60, 61–70, and >70 years). There was no association between the body height and the individual HbA1c value. In multivariable Cox regression analyses adjusted for patient age and BMI, hazard ratios for the development of T2D were 1.15 (95% CI: 1.13–1.17) for each 10 cm decrease in body height in women and 1.10 (95% CI: 1.09–1.12) in men. No significant association was found between body height and the development of T1D. Conclusions: We present the first data from a large cohort of outpatients in Germany, providing strong evidence for an association between adult body height and T2D. These data add to the current literature and might help in implementing body height into existing diabetes risk stratification tools to further reduce morbidity and mortality worldwide.