Endocrine Abstracts

This multicentric cross sectional study, conducted in northern India, aimed to assess the clinical profile of socioeconomically underprivileged children and adolescents, aged below 18 years, with type 1 diabetes. A structured questionnaire was distributed to OPD patients, after taking informed written consent. These patients hailed from six states of India, thus providing a comprehensive picture of the burden of disease. Data was collected regarding their clinical history and laboratory investigations.

Of the 70 patients studied, 47 were male. This skewed gender ratio is typical of this region of India. Age ranged from 2.5 to 17 years, with a duration of diabetes ranging from 1 month to 9 years. Six patients had experienced an episode of DKA in the past 3 months, while none had experienced severe hypoglycemia. Only one patient was overweight, and she had severe acanthosis nigricans. Surprisingly, one boy (aged 7) had acute balanoposthitis, while two premenarcheal girls had pruritis vulvae. Three children complained of painful neuropathy. Four children were found to have short stature, as per Indian standards. Seven girls were hypothyroid, and two boys had subclinical hypothyroidism. Two patients exhibited syndrome of limited joint mobility, two girls had coeliac disease, while four boys had delayed puberty.

HbA1c varied from 6.6% to 16.7%, with 53 patients having an A1c >9.0%. While 56 patients were on a traditional basal-bolus regime, 7 were on a three dose regime (premixed- regular-premixed: 4, or regular-regular-premixed: 3), and 7 were on premixed biphasic insulin twice daily. None of the patients were found to have microalbuminuria or retinopathy.

This abstract highlights the unique clinical features of type 1 diabetes in an under-privileged cohort of children and adolescents in northern India. It quantifies the burden of acute and chronic complications of diabetes in this group of patients. There is a high prevalence of hypothyroidism, diabetic ketoacidosis, genitourinary infections and chronic complications.

Declaration of interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research project.

Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sector.