ESPE Abstracts

Background: Type 1 diabetes is one of the most common chronic disease in pediatric age. The incidence is increasing worldwide, with significant variations between countries. In Portugal, the prevalence in pediatric age is about 0.16%.

Objective and hypotheses: This study aims to characterize a pediatric population with type 1 diabetes and to identify factors influencing the metabolic control.

Method: Retrospective analysis of children and adolescents diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, between January of 2001 and December of 2013 that were followed in a secondary care hospital, in Portugal. Demographic, clinical and laboratorial data were collected. IBM SPSS20 was used for statistical analysis. P values below of 0.05 were regarded as statistical significant.

Results: Between 2001 and 2013, 59 pediatric patients were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. The incidence was higher in males (59.4%) and during autumn and winter (62.1%), and an increasing number of patients were diagnosed in the recent years. The average age at diagnosis was 8.34±3.82 years and there was no statistical difference between genders. Although at diagnosis the majority of patients had no diabetic ketoacidosis (61.5%), eight patients (13.6%) had subsequent hospitalization for treatment of diabetic decompensation. Six patients (10.2%) had at least another autoimmune disease (three with coeliac disease, three with thyroiditis, one with hepatitis).Regarding the current clinical state, the majority had normal weight (72.4%) and normal blood pressure (96.7%) and only two patients had microvascular complications, namely microalbuminuria. HbA_1c <7.5% was achieved in 25.4%. No statistical differences were found between HbA_1c value and the current age, age at diagnosis, gender, follow-up time or current BMI.

Conclusion: This study corroborated the increasing incidence of type 1 diabetes, which enhances the importance of a better knowledge of this disease. The majority of new cases were diagnosed in males and during autumn and winter. There were not identified factors influencing the metabolic control, maybe because of the little dimension of our sample.