Glycaemic control and antibody status among patients with newly diagnosed Type 1 diabetes

To compare the risk of admission to hospital and poor glycaemic control by antibody status among newly diagnosed patients with type 1 diabetes in the Waikato Province of New Zealand.

A cohort aged under 25 years at diagnosis was identified from the Waikato Diabetes Service database. Patient information was extracted from the database, hospital information system and patient's paper records. The primary outcomes of interest were: admission to hospital, admission for diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and most recent HbA1c.

The cohort included 164 people with predominantly either Type 1 (133, 81%) or Type 2 (27, 16%) diabetes, diagnosed between 1997 and 2002. Twenty-four (18%) patients with Type 1 diabetes had one or more admissions for DKA. Logistic regression suggested male gender was associated with subsequent poorer glycaemic control whereas a positive anti-IA2 status was associated with HbA1c less than 10%.

Admission to hospital with DKA was uncommon. We did not show an association between antibody status and subsequent admission to hospital. In view of its association with better glycaemic control, high levels of anti-IA2 may be a good, rather than a poor, prognostic feature in newly diagnosed patients with Type 1 diabetes.