Association between white blood cells count and diabetes mellitus in Tabari cohort study: A case-control study

Background: White Blood Cells (WBC) can be a useful marker to predict diabetes. In this study, we aimed to investigate the association between WBC count with type 2 diabetes in a large-scaled population-based cohort study. Methods: In the present study we used a subset of data collected in enrolment phase of Tabari cohort study. Participants with fasting blood glucose ≥126 or those who report as having diabetes or taking glucose-lowering medications were selected as case group (1765 participants) and control group included participants who did not report as having diabetes (1765 participants) and they randomly selected from the baseline population. Hematology indices were measured for all participants using Celltac Alpha MEK-6510 K. Chi-squared and independent t-test were used to compare categorical and continuous variables, respectively. Results: The mean of WBC in diabetic patients and control group was 6.89 ± 1.67 and 6.37 ± 1.49 respectively (P ≤ 0.001). The odds of diabetes based on WBC count in crud model was 1.23 [CI 95% 1.181.28] and after adjustment for all possible confounding factor was 1.17 [CI 95% 1.111.23]. Conclusions: Results of the present study showed a significant association between WBC count and diabetes. This association remained significant after adjustment for all possible confounders.