Aim To examine the risk factor of coronary artery calcium (CAC) in individuals with diabetes and those without diabetes in Central Appalachia. Methods Study population included 2479 asymptomatic participants who underwent CAC screening between August 2012 and November 2016. CAC score was classified into four categories [0 (no plaque), 1–99 (mild plaque), 100–399 (moderate plaque), and ≥400 (severe plaque)]. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to test the association between CAC and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors among participants with diabetes, age and gender matched controls, and randomly selected controls. Results 13.6% of total participants had diabetes. Around 69%, 59.8%, and 57.7% of the participants with diabetes, matched controls, and randomly selected controls had CAC score ≥1, respectively. Participants with diabetes had higher prevalence of all CVD risk factors than controls. Among participants with diabetes, hypertension and physical inactivity increased the odds of CAC = 100–399, while among those without diabetes, hypertension and hypercholesteremia increased the odds of having CAC = 1–99 and CAC ≥ 400. Conclusion Half of study participants had subclinical atherosclerosis (i.e., CAC), and individuals with diabetes had higher CAC scores. This study suggests that individuals with diabetes in Central Appalachia might benefit from screening for CAC.

Background: The prevalence of diabetes is disproportionately distributed in Central Appalachia compared with other regions in the U.S. Previous research reveals that nearly 65% and 17% of patients with diabetes reported having history of cardiovascular heart disease (CHD) and coronary artery disease (CAD) respectively. This study examined the prevalence of factors associated with subclinical atherosclerosis (measured as coronary artery calcium) in patients with diabetes in geographic locations of rural Central Appalachia. Methods: The study population consisted of 2479 asymptomatic individuals from the rural Central Appalachian region of Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia between August 2012 and November 2016. Descriptive analysis was completed for the total sample size with sub analysis of individuals with diabetes. T-test was used for comparison of categorical (example: hypertension and physical inactivity) and continuous variables (example: age and BMI), respectively. In addition, multinomial logistic regression was conducted to assess the association between multiple risk factors including CAC scores, and geographic locations of patients with diabetes in rural Central Appalachia. Results: There was no significant difference between ages for diabetic and non-diabetic patients. Individual factors which are associated with diabetes include current CAC score (p<0.001, CI: 45.90 – 189.98), BMI (p<0.001, CI: 3.01 – 5.64), sedentary lifestyle (p<0.005, CI: 0.039 – 0.215), history of CAD (p<0.001, CI: 0.08 - 0.19), hypercholesterolemia (p<0.001, CI: 0.64 – 0.23), and hypertension (p<0.001, CI: 0.18 – 0.34). There was no significant correlation between geographic locations and diabetes. Among male and female genders, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, history of CAD, sedentary lifestyle, current CAC score, and BMI have a significant positive correlation with diabetes except for self-reported obesity which only has a significant positive correlation with the female gender. Conclusion: Individual factors remain associated with diabetes across the male and female genders regardless of the geographic locations of the diabetic patients in rural Appalachia. There is strong evidence that cardiovascular related factors could be associated with diabetes across both genders in rural Central Appalachia. We suggest the implementation of evidence-based public health strategies to address the modifiable behaviors that can improve the health of people in rural Central Appalachia.