Can biological age (BA) help identify risk and timing of complications in diabetes? An observational analysis published in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism evaluated the association between BA and the development of complications in individuals with diabetes.

The study analyzed data from 686,410 patients with diabetes using the National Health Insurance Service–National Health Information Database (NHIS-NHID). All participants underwent health examinations between 2009 and 2010 and were followed through 2020. A BA model was developed to estimate health and aging status and to assess its relationship with complication risk and timing of onset.

Across both sexes, higher corrected BA was associated with higher incidence of all diabetes-related complications (p < 0.05). Higher BA was also associated with shorter time to onset of complications (p < 0.05). These patterns were consistent across outcomes evaluated in the cohort.

These findings show that higher biological age was associated with increased risk and earlier onset of complications in individuals with diabetes.