Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: One of the most common chronic diseases in adolescents is type 1 diabetes (T1D).

This period of growth is characterized by hormonal fluctuations and psychological changes which are risk factors for diabetes imbalance.

Aims: Describe the clinical, paraclinical and therapeutic profile in adolescents with type 1 diabetes in Tunisia

Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted atthe Institute of Nutrition in Tunis over a one-year period between January 2017 and January 2018. We have included 102 adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D) hospitalized (n = 68) or followed at the consultation of diabetology (n = 34).

Results: The population studied consisted of 102 adolescents with type 1 diabetes, 51% of whom were female with an average age of 16.8 ± 1.7 years.

Participants classified underweight (UW) were 3(2.9%), those of normal weight (NW) were 82 (80.4%), overweight (OW) 10 (9.8%) and obese (O)7 (6.9%). Abdominal obesity was present in 21.6% of patients with a significant female predominance (34.6% of girls vs 8% of boys, P < 10–3). The mean duration of diabetes was 7.1 ± 4.3 years. The mean age of diabetes discovery was 9.7 ± 4.4 years. More than half (53.9%) used human insulin and 46.1% used insulin analog. The daily average of insulin dose was 1 ± 0.4 u/kg/day. Low adherence to treatment was observed in 29.4% of patients. Insulin omission was found in 7.8%. The average fasting glucose was 13 ± 6.1 mmol/l. The average rate of HbA1c was 10.6 ± 2.2% with extremes ranging from 5.8 to 16.8%. The majority (78.9%) of our patients had an HbA1c level > 9%. Diabetic retinopathy was noted in 3.9% of patients, peripheral neuropathy in 5.9%, and diabetic nephropathy in 5.9%. Dyslipidemia was diagnosed in 30.4% of diabetics with a significantly higher frequency in girls (girls: 38.5% vs boys: 22%; P = 0.05).

Conclusion: Diabetes in adolescence is characterized by poor and unstable blood sugar.

Improving the quality of care for young diabetics insisting on therapeutic and nutritional education is necessary in order to avoid chronic complications of diabetes and provide them with a better quality of life.