OBJECTIVE Patients with type 2 diabetes have an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, including arrhythmias. The prevalence of bradyarrhythmia and the subsequent need for treatment with pacemakers (PMs) is less well explored in a contemporary patient population. The current study explores 1) whether patients with type 2 diabetes have an increased demand for PM implantation compared with an age- and sex-matched control population without diabetes and 2) patient characteristics associated with an increased demand for receiving a PM.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS In this population-matched registry study, a total of 416,247 patients with type 2 diabetes from the Swedish National Diabetes Registry and 2,081,235 age- and sex-matched control subjects selected from the general population were included between 1 January 1998 and 31 December 2012 and followed until 31 December 2013. Mean follow-up time was 7 years. Cox proportional hazard regression analyses were performed to estimate the demand of PM treatment and the factors identifying patients with such demand.

RESULTS Type 2 diabetes was associated with an increased need of PM treatment (hazard ratio 1.65 [95% CI 1.60–1.69]; P < 0.0001), which remained (1.56 [1.51–1.60]; P < 0.0001) after adjustments for age, sex, educational level, marital status, country of birth, and coronary heart disease. Risk factors for receiving a PM included increasing age, HbA_1c, BMI, diabetes duration, and lipid- and blood pressure–lowering medication.

CONCLUSIONS The need for PM treatment is higher in patients with type 2 diabetes than in matched population-based control subjects. Age, diabetes duration, and HbA_1c seem to be risk factors for PM treatment.