The Case for Chronic Kidney Disease, Diabetes Mellitus, and Myocardial Infarction Being Equivalent Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Mortality in Patients Older Than 65 Years

The objective of the study was to determine whether chronic kidney disease (CKD) is as important a risk as either diabetes mellitus (DM) or previous myocardial infarction (MI). CKD and DM are important coronary artery disease risk factors. We hypothesized that the risk of cardiovascular mortality in elderly patients with CKD is equivalent to that for patients with either DM or previous MI. The CHS limited-access database was used to identify a cohort of patients with a baseline history of MI, DM, or CKD (estimated glomerular filtration rate 65 years of age appears justified.