Aims

To compare the symptoms, diagnostic tests used, and clinical diagnoses made among diabetic and non-diabetic patients.

Methods

This is a register-based study of 704 primary care patients referred electively to cardiology specialists in the city of Turku, Finland, during the year 2016. The patient's medical history, cardiovascular medication use, risk factors, cardiac symptoms, diagnostic tests applied, and diagnoses made were gathered from the medical records. The angiography data was derived from the Hospital District of Southwest Finland data pool.

Results

Of the cohort, 120 (17 %) patients had diabetes mellitus. They were on average older (67 vs. 63 years, p = 0.009) and more often females (62 % vs. 38 %, p = 0.042) than the non-diabetic patients. Chest pain or discomfort was the most prevalent symptom in the diabetic patients and a sense of arrhythmia in the non-diabetic subjects. Ischemic heart disease was diagnosed more often in the person with diabetes (15 %) than in the non-diabetic (6 %) patients (p = 0.004). Cardiac arrhythmias were diagnosed in 26 % of the non-diabetic and 20 % of the diabetic subjects (p = 0.021).

Conclusions

Symptoms that might indicate heart disease, especially chest pain/discomfort, are common in both the diabetic and the non-diabetic patients in primary care. Several diagnostic tests are applied, possibly not to miss a life-threatening disease. However, many patients do not get a specific diagnosis for their concerns.