ALB and diabetes mellitus: Stepwise multivariable Cox analysis further demonstrated that age (HR = 1.049, P = 0.005, 95%CI: 1.015–1.084), diabetes mellitus (HR = 1.979, P = 0.039, 95%CI: 1.036–3.778) and cardiovascular disease (HR = 2.790, P = 0.002, 95%CI: 1.468–5.303) increased the risk of cardiovascular mortality while lower Alb (HR = 0.848, P = 0.002, 95%CI: 0.762–0.943) were associated with higher CVD mortality.