Two hour plasma glucose is not unequivocally predictive for early death in men with impaired fasting glucose:: more results from the Paris Prospective Study

Aims/hypothesis. We examined whether the 2-h plasma glucose (2hPG) concentration after a 75 g OGTT is predictive of death in men with a diabetic, an impaired or a normal fasting plasma glucose concentration (DM-FPG: greater than or equal to7.0 mmol/l; IFG: 6.1-6.9 mmol/l; normal-FPG: <6.1 mmol/l). Methods. The 17-year mortality of 7018 men, aged 44 to 55 years, from the Paris Prospective Study, who were not known to be diabetic at baseline was studied. Results. The 2hPG was not associated with early mortality in men with a DM-FPG in contrast to men with an IFG or a normal-FPG; for an increase from 10 to 11 mmol/l in the 2hPG, the age-adjusted hazards ratios were 1.01 (95% CI 0.95-1.08), 1.15 (1.03-1.28) and 1.24 (1.18-1.31) respectively. Coronary heart disease mortality and within this category sudden death but not ischaemic heart disease death, were related with 2hPG but only in the men with normal FPG. However, the prediction by 2hPG did not differ between the men with DM-FPG, an IFG or a normal-FPG: the overall age-adjusted hazards ratios for these three causes of death were 1.09 (1.00-1.18), 1.13 (1.02-1.26) and 1.13 (0.99-1.29), respectively. Conclusion/interpretation. 2hPG is unequivocally prognostic for all-cause mortality only in men with normal FPG. Screening men with an IFG by using a 75 g OGTT is of limited benefit.