ESPE Abstracts

Objective: Studies contain evidence that anemia in diabetic patients may lead to the development of microvascular and macrovascular complications by causing hypoxia and oxidative stress in peripheral tissues. In this study, we aimed to determine the frequency and risk factors of anemia in children with type 1 DM.

Material and Methods: The study group included 82 children with Type 1 DM aged between 1 and 18 years with disease durations above 1 year. The control group consisted of 82 children who matched the study group's age and sex. We retrospectively evaluated the patients' demographic data, age at diagnosis, disease duration, treatment, and diet, anthropometric measurement values, HbA1c, hemogram parameters (Hgb, Hct, Mcv, Rbc, Rdw, Mchc), ferritin, total iron binding capacity, iron, and vitamin B12 levels.

Results: Of the patients, 56.1% (n = 92) were girls and 43.9% (n = 72) were boys. The study included 50% of the cases (n = 82), and the control group included 50% (n = 82). 12.1% (n = 10) of the patients with type 1 diabetes had anemia. A statistically significantly lower mean ferritin value was found in the diabetic patient group compared to the control group (P = 0,032; P <0,05). Children with type 1 diabetes with a disease duration of 1-3 years had lower mean hemoglobin and hematocrit values than children with a disease duration of 6 years or longer (P = 0.046; P <0.05). The ferritin value of patients with a diabetic diet was found to be statistically significantly higher than that of those who used the carbohydrate counting method (P = 0.004; P <0.01).

Conclusion: Children with type 1 diabetes are at risk for anemia in the early years of the disease. This result suggests examining patients for anemia in the early stages of type 1 diabetes.