Verhagen C, Janssen J, Biessels GJ, et al. - A higher risk of accelerated cognitive decline (ACD) exists in females with type 2 diabetes (T2D) vs males, which is partially explained by depressive symptoms.

• An analysis of 3,163 patients (38% female) with T2D who took part in the cognition substudy of CAROLINA (mean age 64.4±9.2 years; T2D duration 7.6±6.1 years).

• ACD was evident in 30.0% (n=361) females vs 25.2% (n=494) males, after a median follow-up of 6.1±0.7 years (OR 1.27).

• Females more frequently exhibited depressive symptoms (24.3% vs 12.5%), which mediated between gender and ACD (mediation effect 20.3%).

• A great share of the higher risk of ACD in women remained unexplained, post-assessment of vascular and diabetes-associated risk factors, complications and treatment.