Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus Clinical Profile and Follow-up: North Emirate Hospitals’ Experience

Abstract

Background: Type 1 Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic metabolic disorder in children and adolescents due to insulin deficiency. The disease is more common below 19 years of age with two peaks of incidence, one at 4-6 years and the other peak at early puberty (10-14 years). There is a gradual increase in the incidence of type 1 DM and a rise in incidence at 10,200 cases per year in the Middle East. Chronic type-1 diabetic patients develop microvascular and macrovascular complications. Methods: The present retrospective cross-sectional study aims to describe the experience on the clinical profile, morbidity profile, and comorbidities of Type1 DM in children below 15 years of age admitted to the SAQR and Fujairah hospitals in the Northern part of United Arab Emirates (UAE) from 1st January 2017 to 31st December 2019. The study material was the digital medical records of children below 15 years who got admitted to emergency and pediatric wards with type 1 Diabetes mellitus (T1DM) in SAQR and Fujairah hospitals. Results: Total admissions during the study period were 98. At the time of diagnosis, 12.2% of children were below five years of age, whereas 87.75% were more than five years. All 98 children were UAE nationals, of which 52% were males and 48% were females. 50% of our study population has a strong family history of either type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus, of which 12.2% of siblings of the study population had T1DM. The first symptoms in 58% and 57% of children were polyuria and polydipsia. Among 90 % of children under follow-up for three years, one child developed microalbuminuria, three developed systolic hypertension, and 8% were lost to follow-up. Conclusions: The present study highlights the need for future prospective studies in the UAE to know the actual burden of the disease with an emphasis on early screening.