Risk factors for mortality in children with diabetic keto acidosis from developing countries

Diabetic keto acidosis (DKA) is the major cause for mortality in children with Diabetes mellitus (DM). With increasing incidence of type 1 DM worldwide, there is an absolute increase of DM among children between 0-14 year age group and overall incidence among less than 30 years remain the same. This shift towards younger age group is more of concern especially in developing countries where mortality in DKA is alarmingly high. Prior to the era of insulin, DKA was associated with 100% mortality and subsequently mortality rates have come down and is now, 0.15%-0.31% in developed countries. However the scenario in developing countries like India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh are very different and mortality is still high in children with DKA. Prospective studies on DKA in children are lacking in developing countries. Literature on DKA related mortality are based on retrospective studies and are very recent from countries like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. There exists an urgent need to understand the differences between developed and developing countries with respect to mortality rates and factors associated with increased mortality in children with DKA. Higher mortality rates, increased incidence of cerebral edema, sepsis, shock and renal failure have been identified among DKA in children from developing countries. Root cause for all these complications and increased mortality in DKA could be delayed diagnosis in children from developing countries. This necessitates creating awareness among parents, public and physicians by health education to identify symptoms of DM/DKA in children, in order to decrease mortality in DKA. Based on past experience in Parma, Italy it is possible to prevent occurrence of DKA both in new onset DM and in children with established DM, by simple interventions to increase awareness among public and physicians.