Frequency and Risk Factors of Diabetic Ketoacidosis in a Specialized Children's Hospital, Riyadh: A Cross-sectional Study.

Objectives: Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a life-threatening complication and a leading cause of hospitalization in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). We aimed to assess the risk factors of admissions of children with DKA in a specialized children's hospital to reduce morbidity and inform appropriate prevention and intervention strategies. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of all DKA admissions at King Abdullah Specialized Children's Hospital, Riyadh (March 2015-December 2017). Data were gathered from newly diagnosed patients with T1DM and known patients ≤ 14 years old with DKA criteria. The main variables were frequency, precipitating factors, and other characteristics of DKA admissions in both groups. Results: A total of 116/562 patients with T1DM (mean age 8.9±3.0 years) had 146 DKA episodes, of which 42/116 (36.2%) were newly diagnosed. The frequency of DKA admissions were 146/562 (26.0%), of which 42/141 (29.8%) were newly diagnosed versus 104/421 (24.7%) known T1DM patients. The majority were 10-14 years old (p ≤ 0.001), and 77.8% were females. Missing insulin was the main cause of DKA (p = 0.001) among known patients with T1DM. Recurrent episodes (n = 30/146, 20.5%) occurred in 15/116 patients and were more common in children ≥ 10 years of age (p = 0.024). The mean length of stay was 2.6±2.0 days and increased with DKA severity (p = 0.008). Conclusions: Most DKA episodes were in patients with known T1DM and missing insulin was the leading cause of DKA. In addition to awareness campaigns to prevent DKA as an initial presentation, intervention strategies should also target high-risk groups of known patients of T1DM such as adolescents and patients with recurrent episodes.

Uncontrolled diabetes: A difficult mother or a mother in difficulty?

Young children with diabetes (YCD) are a particularly vulnerable group because they are reliant on adult carers in their management. Diabetes treating teams (DTT) have a responsibility towards YCD targeting good glycemic control (GC) to improve quality of life and reduce risk of complications. It can be difficult, however, in occasions to balance between providing support for struggling families and considering safeguarding YCD who are not well looked after by carers in their management. We report a 6-year-old girl with type 1 diabetes with HbA1c ranged between 10.7% and 15.7%. A number of social factors have influenced her diabetes control including parental separation, maternal mental health concerns and lack of family support. Each time, these issues have been addressed, and also when grandparents were involved, a transient short-lived improvement in GC was observed. However, there were always ongoing concerns about mother's lack of engagement with the DTT. Similar cases continue to pose significant challenges for DTT, worldwide. A balance should be kept between providing adequate support for such families against a possible need for safeguarding YCD. Using a patient centered approach, if there is no improvement in GC despite taking all measures to support mothers or families who struggle with their YCD management, it becomes difficult to justify not involving the safeguarding team and social services.