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
. 2022 Apr;39(4):e14719.
doi: 10.1111/dme.14719. Epub 2021 Oct 23.

Growing up with type 1 diabetes mellitus: Data from the Verona Diabetes Transition Project

Silvia Pasquini  1 , Elisabetta Rinaldi  1 , Giuliana Da Prato  1 , Alessandro Csermely  1 , Liliana Indelicato  1 , Silvana Zaffani  2 , Lorenza Santi  1 , Alberto Sabbion  2 , Claudio Maffeis  2 , Enzo Bonora  1 , Maddalena Trombetta  1
Affiliations

Growing up with type 1 diabetes mellitus: Data from the Verona Diabetes Transition Project

Silvia Pasquini et al. Diabet Med. 2022 Apr.

Abstract

Aim: Transition from paediatric to adult care is a critical step in life of emerging adults with type 1 diabetes. We assessed, according to indicators established by panel of experts, clinical, socio-demographic and psychosocial factors in young adults with type 1 diabetes throughout structured transition to investigate the associations, if any, with HbA1c value at time of transition.

Methods: The "Verona Diabetes Transition Project" started in January 2009: a structured transition program, shared between paediatric and adult clinic, was organised with a multi-disciplinary team. All young adults underwent a semi-structured interview by a psychologist, before transition. Minimum age for transition was 18 years.

Results: 222 (M/F = 113/109) young adults moved to adult care from January 2009 to March 2020. The mean time between the last paediatric visit and the first adult visit ranged from 13.6 ± 6.1 months at the beginning of the project to 3.6 ± 11.5 months over the following years. At first adult clinic attendance, women showed higher HbA1c values (70 ± 11 mmol/mol vs. 65 ± 7 mmol/mol or 8.57% ± 1.51% vs. 8.14% ± 0.98%, p = 0.01), higher frequency of disorders of eating behaviours (15.6% vs. 0%, p < 0.001) and poor diabetes acceptance (23.9% vs. 9.7%, p < 0.001) than men. Mediation analyses showed a significant mediating role of glucose control 2 years before transition in the relationship between poor diabetes acceptance and glucose control at transition.

Conclusions: This study demonstrated a delay reduction in establishing care with an adult provider and suggested the potential role of low diabetes acceptance on glycemic control at transition. Further studies are needed to confirm and expand these data.

Keywords: acceptance of disease and psychological issues; emerging adults; glucose control; transition; type 1 diabetes mellitus.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. DIAMOND Project Group. Incidence and trends of childhood type 1 diabetes worldwide 1990-1999. Diabetes Med. 2006;23:857-866.
    1. Patterson C, Guariguata L, Dahlquist G, Soltész G, Ogle G, Silink M. Diabetes in the young-a global view and worldwide estimates of numbers of children with type 1 diabetes. C. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2014;103:161-175.
    1. Garvey KC, Markowitz JT, Laffel LM. Transition to adult care for youth with type 1 diabetes. Curr Diab Rep. 2012;12(5):533-541.
    1. Blum RW. Improving transition for adolescents with special health care needs from pediatric to adult-centered health care. Pediatrics. 2002;110:1301-1303.
    1. Peters A, Laffel L. Diabetes care for emerging adults: recommendations for transition from pediatric to adult diabetes care systems: a position statement of the American Diabetes Association, with representation by the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, the American Osteopathic Association, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Children with Diabetes, The Endocrine Society, the International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, the National Diabetes Education Program, and the Pediatric Endocrine Society (formerly Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society). Diabetes Care. 2011;34(11):2477-2485.

LinkOut - more resources