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Multicenter Study
. 2026 Jan 21;111(2):e476-e483.
doi: 10.1210/clinem/dgaf395.

Trends of Diabetes in Youth (TrenDY) During COVID-19 Across the United States

Amit Lahoti  1 , Md Rejuan Haque  2 , Monica E Bianco  3 , Abha Choudhary  4 , Amy L Clark  5 , Brynn E Marks  6 , Catherina T Pinnaro  7 , Amy S Shah  8 , Margaret A Stefater-Richards  9 , Vidhu V Thaker  10 , Risa M Wolf  11 , Jeanie B Tryggestad  12 ; TrenDY (Trends of Diabetes in Youth) Consortium
Collaborators, Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Trends of Diabetes in Youth (TrenDY) During COVID-19 Across the United States

Amit Lahoti et al. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. .

Abstract

Context: The frequency and acuity at diagnosis of youth-onset type 1 diabetes (T1D) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) were reported as higher in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it is unclear if these trends persist.

Objective: To describe trends in new cases of youth-onset diabetes comparing the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic with the 2 preceding years.

Design: Retrospective study.

Setting: Twenty-three clinical centers in the United States.

Patients: New-onset T1D and T2D in youth between March 1, 2018, and February 28, 2022.

Main outcome measures: New diagnosis of youth-onset T1D or T2D and acuity at diagnosis.

Results: A total of 4851 youth were diagnosed with T1D in the prepandemic period [year (Yr) 1: March 1, 2018, to February 28, 2019; Yr 2: March 1, 2019, to February 29, 2020] and 5955 individuals during the pandemic (Yr 3: March 1, 2020, to February 29, 2021; Yr 4: March 1, 2021, to February 28, 2022), a 22.8% increase (nonsignificant). The proportion of diabetic ketoacidosis in T1D was higher during (43.41%) vs prepandemic (37.77%, P < .01). For T2D, 1610 youth were diagnosed in the prepandemic period while 3443 patients were diagnosed with T2D during the pandemic (a 114% increase). The increase in frequency of T2D attributable to the pandemic from Yr 2 to Yr 3 was 76.8% (P < .01), while the increase from Yr 3 to Yr 4 was not significant.

Conclusion: In youth, the frequency of both T1D and T2D increased during the COVID-19 pandemic but was significant only for T2D. When controlled for yearly trends, only the frequency of T2D increased significantly in the first year of the pandemic, suggesting that the pandemic environment differentially impacted rates of T1D and T2D in youth.

Keywords: COVID; type 1 diabetes; type 2 diabetes; youth.

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Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:
Broken stick model for change in mean cases of newly diagnosed cases of type 1 diabetes (Panel A) and type 2 diabetes (Panel B)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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