Prevalence of type 1 and type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents in Germany from 2002 to 2020: A study based on electronic health record data from the DPV registry

Association of Diabetic Ketoacidosis in Childhood New-Onset Type 1 Diabetes With Day of Presentation in Germany

OBJECTIVE

Whether the day of the week on which the child presents affects timely diagnosis and risk of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) in children with new-onset type 1 diabetes (T1D) is not known.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

We used data of 30,717 children with new-onset T1D during the last 10 years from the German Prospective Diabetes Registry. We determined the odds ratios of T1D diagnosis and DKA on a weekday, public holiday, and school vacation.

RESULTS

Compared with workdays, the odds ratios of being diagnosed with T1D were lower on weekends (0.39 [95% CI, 0.38-0.41]), public holidays (0.57 [0.53-0.63]), and school vacations (0.83 [0.80-0.85]). The odds of DKA diagnosis were also reduced on weekends (0.55 [0.52-0.59]), public holidays (0.73 [0.63-0.84]), and school vacations (0.85 [0.80-0.90]). Results did not change during the coronavirus 2019 pandemic.

CONCLUSIONS

New-onset T1D and DKA in children are more often diagnosed during weekdays than weekends and holidays.

New advances in type 1 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition resulting in insulin deficiency and eventual loss of pancreatic β cell function requiring lifelong insulin therapy. Since the discovery of insulin more than 100 years ago, vast advances in treatments have improved care for many people with type 1 diabetes. Ongoing research on the genetics and immunology of type 1 diabetes and on interventions to modify disease course and preserve β cell function have expanded our broad understanding of this condition. Biomarkers of type 1 diabetes are detectable months to years before development of overt disease, and three stages of diabetes are now recognized. The advent of continuous glucose monitoring and the newer automated insulin delivery systems have changed the landscape of type 1 diabetes management and are associated with improved glycated hemoglobin and decreased hypoglycemia. Adjunctive therapies such as sodium glucose cotransporter-1 inhibitors and glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists may find use in management in the future. Despite these rapid advances in the field, people living in under-resourced parts of the world struggle to obtain necessities such as insulin, syringes, and blood glucose monitoring essential for managing this condition. This review covers recent developments in diagnosis and treatment and future directions in the broad field of type 1 diabetes.

Spatiotemporal association between COVID-19 incidence and type 1 diabetes incidence among children and adolescents: a register-based ecological study in Germany

Objective

Studies have shown an increased incidence of pediatric type 1 diabetes during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the detailed role of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the incidence increase in type 1 diabetes remains unclear. We investigated the spatiotemporal association of pediatric type 1 diabetes and COVID-19 incidence at the district level in Germany.

Methods

For the period from March 2020 to June 2022, nationwide data on incident type 1 diabetes among children and adolescents aged <20 years and daily documented COVID-19 infections in the total population were obtained from the German Diabetes Prospective Follow-up Registry and the Robert Koch Institute, respectively. Data were aggregated at district level and seven time periods related to COVID-19 pandemic waves. Spatiotemporal associations between indirectly standardized incidence rates of type 1 diabetes and COVID-19 were analyzed by Spearman correlation and Bayesian spatiotemporal conditional autoregressive Poisson models.

Results

Standardized incidence ratios of type 1 diabetes and COVID-19 in the pandemic period were not significantly correlated across districts and time periods. A doubling of the COVID-19 incidence rate was not associated with a significant increase in the incidence rate of type 1 diabetes (relative risk 1.006, 95% CI 0.987; 1.019).

Conclusion

Our findings based on data from the pandemic period indirectly indicate that a causal relationship between SARS-COV-2 infection and type 1 diabetes among children and adolescents is unlikely.

Incidence, prevalence and care of type 1 diabetes in children and adolescents in Germany: Time trends and regional socioeconomic situation

Background

Trends over time and possible socio-spatial inequalities in the incidence and care of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) in children and adolescents are important parameters for the planning of target-specific treatment structures.

Methodology

The incidence and prevalence of type 1 diabetes, diabetic ketoacidosis and severe hypoglycaemia as well as the HbA1c value are presented for under 18-year-olds based on data from the nationwide Diabetes Prospective Follow-up Registry (DPV) and the diabetes registry of North Rhine-Westphalia. Indicators were mapped by sex over time between 2014 and 2020, and stratified by sex, age and regional socioeconomic deprivation for 2020.

Results

In 2020, the incidence was 29.2 per 100,000 person-years and the prevalence was 235.5 per 100,000 persons, with the figures being higher in boys than in girls in either case. The median HbA1c value was 7.5%. Ketoacidosis manifested in 3.4% of treated children and adolescents, significantly more often in regions with very high (4.5%) deprivation than in regions with very low deprivation (2.4%). The proportion of severe hypoglycaemia cases was 3.0%. Between 2014 and 2020, the incidence, prevalence and HbA1c levels changed little, while the proportions of ketoacidosis and severe hypoglycaemia decreased.

Conclusions

The decrease in acute complications indicates that type 1 diabetes care has improved. Similar to previous studies, the results suggest an inequality in care by regional socioeconomic situation.