Development of heart failure in people with type 2 diabetes is associated with the highest risk of death compared with other cardiovascular or renal complications, a large study shows.

Danish researchers have found that patients with newly diagnosed diabetes who develop heart failure have a three-fold higher risk of death within five years than those free from heart or renal disease.

And heart failure alone also confers a greater reduction in lifespan within five years compared with stroke, chronic kidney disease (CKD), peripheral artery disease (PAD) or ischaemic heart disease (IHD) alone, the researchers say.

They analysed real-world data from 153,000 patients (median age 64) with recent diabetes diagnoses from nationwide registries to assess the effect of individual CV conditions on five-year mortality risk.