Hospitalization and comorbidity in children with type 2 diabetes

To describe hospitalization rates and reasons for hospitalization in children with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and to compare these rates to a matched cohort without diabetes and to children with type 1 diabetes (T1D).

Population-based cohorts of 528 children (7-18 years of age) with prevalent T2D, 1519 matched control children without diabetes and 778 children with T1D were identified from a clinical registry and linked to health care records to assess hospitalizations and reasons for hospitalizations using ICD-9CM and ICD-10CA codes.

Children with T2D are more likely than their matched controls and children with T1D to be admitted to hospital in the year prior to diagnosis {RR 2.83 (1.77, 4.53) p < 0.0001 and 8.05 (4.05, 16.00) p < 0.0001, respectively}, in the first year post diagnosis {RR 3.19 (2.08, 4.89) p < 0.0001 and 3.04 (1.86, 4.98) p < 0.0001, respectively} and in the 5 year post diagnosis period {RR 1.99 (1.56, 2.53) p < 0.0001 and 1.91 (1.48, 2.46) p < 0.0001, respectively}. Mental illness was the most common cause for hospital admission in both children with T2D and their matched controls.

This differs from children with T1D where endocrine causes constitute the most common reason for hospital admission. This analysis provides novel data on hospitalization rates and diagnoses in the increasing population of children with T2D. This information is important to inform health care programming and health policy planning to best meet the needs of this population.