Diabetes visits in paediatric versus adult clinics for young adults (YA) with T1D: Pre-pandemic and pandemic care

Abstract

Background: Young adults (YA) with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) are at high risk of worsening glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) with fewer follow-up visits. We examined the association of demographic and diabetes characteristics with care utilization, including in-person and telehealth visits, pre- (1 April 2019 to 15 March 2020) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (30 March 2020 to 15 March 2021) for YA (ages: 18-30) with T1D, comparing those seen in paediatric versus adult diabetes clinics at a single diabetes centre.

Methods: Data were obtained from the electronic health record for YA with a pre-pandemic HbA1c. We performed descriptive statistics to describe the sample and paired t-tests to compare visits before and during the pandemic.

Results: Data from 1762 YA (54% male; age 24.0 ± 3.6 (M ± SD) years; HbA1c 66 ± 18 mmol/mol (8.2 ± 1.6%) revealed that in the full sample, mean pre-pandemic visit frequency was 3.5 ± 3.4 and mean pandemic visit frequency was 3.1 ± 4.1 (p < 0.0001). Furthermore, the pandemic visit frequency declined in the adult clinic regardless of sex, pump therapy, CGM use, and pre-pandemic HbA1c, whereas in the paediatric clinic, visit frequency was only reduced for those with HbA1c <53 mmol/mol (<7%) but was otherwise maintained.

Conclusions: In this diabetes centre, the paediatric clinic maintained diabetes care delivery during the pandemic (30 March 2020 to 15 March 2021) to YA with glycaemic control above target, suggesting that preservation of remote care delivery should be considered in this high-risk group.

Keywords: Diabetes Care Delivery; Telehealth; Type 1 Diabetes; Young Adults.