Clinical Presentation of Type 1 Diabetes among a Cohort of Children and Adolescents from El-Beheira Governorate

Abstract

Abstract Background Type 1 diabetes (T1DM) is multifactorial; family history and genetic predisposition, presence of autoantibodies, physical stress, and exposure to illnesses such as viral infections, disease of the pancreas, age, race, geography, and early diet are the main T1DM risk factors that have been identified. Objective To identify the patterns of clinical presentation among patients with type 1 diabetes from El-Beheira Governorate and to explore family history of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and its impact on the presentation of type 1 diabetes among offspring. Patients and Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted at the diabetes clinic in El-Beheira Governorate and included 119 children with T1DM regularly following up during the period from March 2023 until June 2023. The study assessed the age of onset of diabetes, insulin dosage, the presence of a family history of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes among the study population, the initial presentation of diabetes, and the presence of complications. Results During the study period, a total of 119 patients were included, with a female predominance (64.7%). The median age at presentation was 6 years old. Hyperglycemia was the most frequent presentation in the studied population (66.4%), followed by DKA. Children with a positive family history of T2DM were significantly older at the onset of the diagnosis of T1DM, and they required significantly higher basal and mealtime insulin dosages to achieve glycemic control (P < 0.05). Furthermore, patients with a positive family history of T2DM had higher levels of cholesterol and triglycerides (P < 0.05). Conclusion Patients with a positive family history of T2DM required more insulin to achieve glycemic control, which could be attributed to factors related to insulin resistance. Further studies on a larger geographical scale with a larger sample size are required to emphasise our results. This may help to figure out the effect of family history of T2DM on the presentation of patients with T1DM.