Abstract:
Objective: To investigate temporal trends in glycemic control and severe hypoglycemia rates for pediatric patients with type 1 diabetes from 1995 to 2016 by analyzing data from the longitudinal, prospective, population-based German/Austrian (Diabetes Patient History Documentation [DPV]) and Western Australian (Western Australian Children’s Diabetes Database [WACDD]) diabetes registries. Resarch designs & methods: Patients diagnosed with type 1 diabetes aged <15 years were identified from the DPV (N = 59,883) and WACDD (N = 2,595) registries and data extracted for all clinic visits occurring between 1995 and 2016, inclusive. Mean HbA1c and severe hypoglycemia (self-reported loss of consciousness/convulsion) rates were calculated per 100 patient-years. Results: Between 1995 and 2016, the annual mean HbA1c decreased from 8.3 to 7.8% in the DPV cohort and from 9.2 to 8.3% in the WACDD cohort. Over the same period, the severe hypoglycemia rate decreased by an annual average of 2% (relative risk 0.983 [95% CI 0.981, 0.986]) in the DPV cohort and 6% (relative risk 0.935 [95% CI 0.934, 0.937]) in the WACDD cohort. Concomitant decreasing trends in both HbA1c and severe hypoglycemia rates were observed in boys and girls, all age groups, and injection therapy/pump regimen groups. Conclusions: Over the past two decades, there have been concurrent improvements in HbA1c and decreasing severe hypoglycemia rates in two contemporary, longitudinal, population-based pediatric cohorts of type 1 diabetes. Translation of these data into clinical practice and patient education may reduce fear of hypoglycemia and enable better glycemic control.
Decreasing Trends in Mean HbA1c Are Not Associated With Increasing Rates of Severe Hypoglycemia in Children
There have been concurrent improvements in HbA1c and decreasing severe hypoglycemia rates in two pediatric cohorts of type 1 diabetes