ESPE Abstracts

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (TIDM) is a very familiar chronic disease among pediatric endocrinologists. It is known that chronic diseases can affect their growth velocity and final height. The aim of the study is to determine how TIDM affects children's growth velocity during the childhood period.

Material-Method: This cohort study used data from patients with TIDM participating in our clinic for the last 13 years. The patient had other chronic diseases, and missing file records were eliminated. They were divided into three groups, as group 1 was less than 5, group II between 5-10 and group III more than 10 years old. Their length, weight, body mass index (BMI) and standard deviation (SD) beside HbAC1 values were recorded for each year.

Results: Two hundred and fifty patients (53 % girls) at between 1.10 and 17.7 years old were evaluated. Patients in groups I and II showed dramatic decreases according to height and weight SD during the follow-up period. In group I, height lost was almost 1SD. There was also significant weight loss SD in all groups approximately 4 years after diagnosis. In patient group III, BMI-SD showed a sharp increase and then progressively decreased (Table 1). The height and weight gain of patients with poor metabolic control showed more significant changes.

Conclusion: If the diagnosis of TIDM is poorly controlled, it negatively affects the child's growth. In patients diagnosed under 5 years of age, height loss was more pronounced in other age groups. Therefore, it is recommended to be followed more closely, especially in this age group.