Table 1 Baseline clinical characteristics of the study cohort, both overall and according to FLI categories

Men/women, n (%)

407/367 (52.6/47.4)

234/281 (45.4/54.6)

108/61*** (63.9/36.1)

65/25*** (72.2/27.8)

Age, years

40.2 ± 11.7

37.8 ± 10.7

45.2 ± 12.1 ***

44.3 ± 12.1 ***

Age at diabetes diagnosis, years

20.9 ± 10.9

20.2 ± 10.9

22.6 ± 10.6

21.8 ± 10.8

Duration of diabetes, years

19.4 ± 12.2

17.7 ± 11.6

22.7 ± 12.8 ***

22.4 ± 12.8 **

BMI, kg/m²

24.8 ± 3.6

23.1 ± 2.3

27.0 ± 2.0

30.4 ± 3.7

Waist circumference, cm

90.8 ± 10.7

85.5 ± 7.1

98.0 ± 6.2

107.5 ± 9.4

Smoking habits: non-smokers, current smokers, n (%)

549/225 (70.9/29.1)

365/150 (70.9/29.1)

118/51 (69.8/30.2)

66/24 (73.3/26.7)

Fasting glucose, mmol/l

9.44 ± 4.56

9.14 ± 4.48

9.72 ± 4.51

10.67 ± 4.91 *

HbA_1c, %

7.83 ± 1.18

7.75 ± 1.25

7.91 ± 0.96

8.14 ± 1.09 *

HbA_1c, mmol/mol

62.1 ± 12.9

61.2 ± 13.6

62.9 ± 10.5

65.5 ± 11.9 *

Systolic BP, mmHg

127 ± 18

122 ± 16

133 ± 18 ***

140 ± 16 *** ^††

Diastolic BP, mmHg

73 ± 9

72 ± 8

75 ± 8 ***

79 ± 11 *** ^††

Total cholesterol, mmol/l

4.84 ± 0.88

4.73 ± 0.84

5.06 ± 0.86 ***

5.07 ± 1.02 **

LDL cholesterol, mmol/l

3.01 ± 0.76

2.88 ± 0.72

3.26 ± 0.75 ***

3.27 ± 0.84 ***

HDL cholesterol, mmol/l

1.58 (1.35–1.87)

1.66 (1.40–1.94)

1.50 *** (1.27–1.85)

1.36 *** ^†† (1.15–1.59)

Triacylglycerol, mmol/l

0.85 (0.65–1.14)

0.75 (0.60–0.95)

1.07 (0.84–1.43)

1.33 (0.90–2.25)

ALT, U/l

22.3 ± 31.8

18.9 ± 12.1

24.1 ± 16.5

38.0 ± 84.2 *** ^††

AST, U/l

20.0 ± 10.8

18.6 ± 8.3

21.9 ± 12.9 **

24.6 ± 16.0 ***

Gamma-GT, U/l

20.6 ± 33.3

14.1 ± 7.1

24.9 ± 22.9

49.6 ± 84.6

Fibrinogen, µmol/l

9.89 ± 2.00

9.57 ± 1.89

10.25 ± 1.75 **

11.00 ± 2.47 *** ^†

Albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR), mg/mmol

0.49 (0.26–1.00)

0.47 (0.25–0.89)

0.46 (0.26–0.97)

0.83 *** ^††† (0.37–3.15)

eGFR, CKD-EPI, ml/min/1.73 m²

102.5 ± 17.4

105.0 ± 16.8

98.1 ± 15.3 ***

96.7 ± 21.2 ***

Uric acid, µmol/l

223.6 ± 67.4

209.8 ± 57.1

235.9 ± 65.9 ***

279.4 ± 88.7 *** ^†††

eGDR, mg/kg/min

8.29 (5.54–9.31)

8.89 (7.37–9.65)

6.67 *** (4.37–8.19)

3.96 *** ^††† (3.34–6.86)

Daily insulin dose, IU/kg body weight

0.66 ± 0.20

0.65 ± 0.19

0.68 ± 0.19

0.73 ± 0.27 **

Treatment with BP-lowering agents, n (%)

151 (19.5)

65 (12.6)

49 (29.0) ***

37 (41.1) *** ^†

Treatment with RAS blockers, n (%)

136 (17.6)

57 (11.1)

43 (25.4) ***

36 (40.0) *** ^†

Treatment with lipid-lowering agents, n (%)

100 (12.9)

37 (7.2)

39 (23.1) ***

24 (26.7) ***

Treatment with metformin, n (%)

46 (5.9)

21 (4.1)

10 (5.9)

15 (16.7) *** ^††

Treatment with aspirin, n (%)

50 (6.5)

10 (1.9)

24 (14.2) ***

16 (17.8) ***

Hypertension, n (%)

270 (34.9)

126 (24.5)

83 (49.1) ***

61 (67.8) *** ^††

Retinopathy: no retinopathy/non advanced/advanced, n (%)

452/202/120 (58.4/26.1/15.5)

334/123/58 (64.9/23.9/11.3)

80/55/34 *** (47.3/32.5/20.1)

38/24/28 *** (42.2/26.7/31.1)

Distal Symmetric Polyneuropathy, n (%)

68 (8.8)

30 (5.8)

23 (13.6) **

15 (16.7) ***

Diabetic kidney disease, n (%)

82 (10.6)

36 (7.0)

19 (11.2)

27 (30.0) *** ^†††

Major adverse cardiovascular events, n (%)

41 (5.3)

11 (2.1)

18 (10.7) ***

12 (13.3) ***

ST1-RE: 10-year risk: < 10%/10–20%/ > 20%, n (%)

459/188/127 (59.3/24.3/16.4)

358/111/46 (69.5/21.6/8.9)

65/55/49 *** (38.5/32.5/29.0)

36/22/32 *** (40.0/24.4/35.6)

EURO-RE: 10-year risk: < 10%/10–20%/ > 20%, n (%)

501/171/102 (64.7/22.1/13.2)

400/87/28(77.7/16.9/5.4)

70/55/44 *** (41.4/32.5/26.0)

31/29/30 *** (34.4/32.2/33.3)