Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015:2015:761759.
doi: 10.1155/2015/761759. Epub 2015 Oct 1.

Glycemic Control in Kenyan Children and Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

Thomas Ngwiri  1 , Fred Were  2 , Barbara Predieri  3 , Paul Ngugi  4 , Lorenzo Iughetti  3
Affiliations

Glycemic Control in Kenyan Children and Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

Thomas Ngwiri et al. Int J Endocrinol. 2015.

Abstract

Background. Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is the most common endocrine disorder in children and adolescents worldwide. While data about prevalence, treatment, and complications are recorded in many countries, few data exist for Sub-Saharan Africa. The aim of this study was to determine the degree of control in patients with T1DM aged 1-19 years over a 6-month period in 3 outpatient Kenyan clinics. It also sought to determine how control was influenced by parameters of patient and treatment. Methods. Eighty-two children and adolescents with T1DM were included in the study. Clinical history regarding duration of illness, type and dose of insulin, and recent symptoms of hypoglycemia/hyperglycemia were recorded. Glycaemia, HbA1c, and ketonuria were tested. HbA1c of 8.0% and below was defined as the cut-off for acceptable control. Results. The median HbA1c for the study population was 11.1% (range: 6.3-18.8). Overall, only 28% of patients had reasonable glycemic control as defined in this study. 72% therefore had poor control. It was also found that age above 12 years was significantly associated with poor control. Conclusions. African children and with T1DM are poorly controlled particularly in adolescents. Our data strongly support the necessity of Kenya children to receive more aggressive management and follow-up.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution (%) of HbA1c in children and adolescents.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Gong C., Meng X., Jiang Y., Wang X., Cui H., Chen X. Trends in childhood type 1 diabetes mellitus incidence in beijing from 1995 to 2010: a retrospective multicenter study based on hospitalization data. Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics. 2015;17(3):159–165. doi: 10.1089/dia.2014.0205. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Tuomilehto J., Virtala E., Karvonen M., et al. Increase in incidence of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus among children in Finland. International Journal of Epidemiology. 1995;24(5):984–992. doi: 10.1093/ije/24.5.984. - DOI - PubMed
    1. The Writing Group for the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study Group. Incidence of diabetes in youth in the United States. The Journal of the American Medical Association. 2007;297(24):2716–2724. doi: 10.1001/jama.297.24.2716. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Osei K., Schuster D. P., Amoah A. G. B., Owusu S. K. Pathogenesis of type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus in sub-saharan Africa: implications for transitional populations. Journal of Cardiovascular Risk. 2003;10(2):85–96. doi: 10.1097/00043798-200304000-00003. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Swai A. B. M., Lutale J. L., McLarty D. G. Prospective study of incidence of juvenile diabetes mellitus over 10 years in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. British Medical Journal. 1993;306(6892):1570–1572. doi: 10.1136/bmj.306.6892.1570. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources