Khalid S. Aljabri and Samia A. Bokhari
Background and objective: The incidence of type 1 diabetes is increasing; Blood glucose may be the most important clinical characteristic of diabetic patients. Few studies have measured glycemic control in a representative national sample of people with diabetes The aim of this study were to describe glycemic control in patients with type 1 diabetes Mellitus.
Methods: A cross section study of patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus at the diabetic centre in Saudi Arabia
Main results: There were 220 patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus, 91 male (41.4%) and 129 female (58.6%). The mean age was 21.3 ± 7.2. The mean diabetes duration was 7.5 ± 5.7. Male patients were not significantly different in age, diabetes duration, body mass index and HbA1c than female patients. The correlation of HbA1c and age, diabetes duration and body mass index were (-0.2, p<0.0001), (-0.2, p=0.001) and (-0.01, p=0.2) respectively. Younger patients (<20 years old) were significantly had higher mean HbA1c than older patients (≥ 20 years old), 9.9 ± 2.3 and 8.9 ± 2.2 respectively (1.0, 95% CI; 0.4, 1.6), p=0.001. Patients with diabetes duration more than 10 years were significantly had lower mean HbA1c than patients with diabetes duration between 5 and 10 years and less than 5 years; 10.1 ± 2.7 , 9.2 ± 2.0 and 8.9 ± 1.9 respectively, p=0.004.
Conclusion: Many patients with type 1 diabetes have poor glycemic control placing them at high risk of diabetic complications.