Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: The D1 Now study was established to improve outcomes for young people with type 1 diabetes. The D1 now intervention focuses on making the clinic visit more young person-centred through enabling young people to set their agenda, and use of a support worker as a liaison. An audit of the young adult cohort attending University Hospital Galway (UHG) in 2011 showed suboptimal glycaemic control and high rates of unscheduled emergency visits and non-attendance at outpatient clinics.

Aims: The aim of this study was to re-audit the young adult cohort in UHG to identify any changes over the last 10 years and to help develop strategies to recruit and retain young adults for a definitive randomised control trial (RCT) of the D1 Now intervention.

Methods: An audit of all young adults aged 18-25 years attending the type 1 diabetes service at UHG on 1st July 2021 was carried out over a 2-year period. Demographic, clinical, laboratory and clinic attendance data were gathered from hospital electronic record systems.

Results: 148 young adults (55% female) were included with a mean age of 23 years. Non-attendance rates at outpatient clinics were high at 28% and 7% did not attend any clinic appointment over the 2 years. 11% had at least one hospital admission. Insulin pump usage was 26% compared to 4% in the 2011 audit. Mean haemoglobin A1c was 70 mmol/mol compared to 81 mmol/mol in 2011.

Conclusions: Glycaemic control has improved in this cohort since the 2011 audit, likely partly attributable to increased availability of diabetes technology. However clinic non-attendance remains high. This highlights the need to investigate new ways to improve young adult engagement in their diabetes care. The D1 Now definitive RCT is due to commence across Ireland and will explore this area further.