Real-Life Glycemic Control in Children with Type 2 Diabetes: A Population-Based Study

To characterize children and adolescents with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) insured by a large health maintenance organization, and to identify variables associated with treatment quality and disease outcome.

Children and adolescents diagnosed with T2DM over a 9-year period were identified from the database of Clalit Health Services, a large health maintenance organization in Israel (1 213 362 members aged 0-18 years). Demographic, anthropometric, clinical, and laboratory data were analyzed.

A total of 96 patients (47 males) met our inclusion criteria. The mean age at diagnosis of T2DM was 14.25 ± 2.51 years. At the time of diagnosis, the median hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level was 7.8%, and additional components of the metabolic syndrome were present in 14.9%-67.4% of the patients. At the end of the follow-up period (3.11 ± 1.75 years), >50% of the patients were being treated with insulin; the median HbA1c value was 7.97%, and 44.6% of the patients achieved the target HbA1c of <7.0%. On multivariate linear regression analysis, the variables found to predict worse glycemic control (ie, higher HbA1c) were a higher HbA1c at diagnosis, a higher body mass index SD score at diagnosis, fewer annual HbA1c tests, and Arabic ethnicity [F(4,81) = 7.139; P < .001; R² = 0.271].

This population-based study of pediatric patients with T2DM demonstrates that reasonable glycemic control can be achieved in both community and outpatient hospital settings. Nevertheless, there is room for improvement in intervention programs to optimize outcomes and decrease the risk of complications.