Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Pubertal development is controlled by a series of hormones produced by the hypothalamus, pituitary and sex glands. In people with type 1 diabetes, blood glucose levels can affect the production of these hormones and, consequently, affect the pubertal development, inducing pubertal delay. The aim of this study is to describe the impact of diabetes and its various parameters on pubertal development in young type 1 diabetic patients.

Patients and Methods: This is a cross-sectional, descriptive, analytical study about 121 cases conducted in the Endocrinology Department of CHU Ibn Rochd in Casablanca, from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2022. We included young type 1 diabetic patients aged between 14 and 20 years, whose diabetes diagnosis was more than 6 months old. The Tanner score was used to assess puberty in patients. Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS 20 program.

Results: We recruited 121 patients with a mean age of 16.78, 58% female and 42% male. The duration of diabetes ranged from 1 to 14 years, with an average of 5.63 years. HbA1c ranged from 6.4% to 17.6%, with an average of 12.1%. Only 5% of patients were balanced, with HbA1c <7.5%. In our study, the prevalence of delayed puberty was 21% (26 patients). We noted no significant relationship between toxic habits, duration of diabetes, regularity of follow-up, type of insulin therapy regimen, glycemic imbalance, total basal dose, frequency of hypoglycemic episodes, BMI and pubertal delay.

Conclusions: The prevalence of delayed puberty is high among diabetic patients in developing countries, and can be explained by various socio-economic factors: poor access to healthcare, poor diet and poor balance… Our results suggest that the occurrence of delayed puberty was not related to socio-demographic or diabetes-related factors.