ABSTRACT
UNLABELLED: Eating disorders associated to type 1 diabetes (T1D) raise the risk of impairments in metabolic control increasing short and long term complications. OBJECTIVE: To compare the glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels variation in a group of T1D adolescents with and without disordered eating behaviour (DEB) during 3-year follow-up and to relate the metabolic control, with pubertal stage, T1D duration, Body Mass Index and gender at the end of the study. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Analytyc an observational comparative study of two cohorts: patients were selected from a previous multicentric study done by the Paediatric Committee of the Argentinean Diabetes Association. One DEB sample group and another group without DEB were conformed. HbA1c levels were estimated al baseline and after 3 years. Pubertal stage, BMI, gender and duration of T1D were assessed at the end of the study. Comparison of statistical tests of HbA1c levels and association tests were made. RESULTS: Eighty seven patients, 22 with DEB and 65 without DEB were studied. Patient's mean ages (13.6 vs.14.3 years) and T1D evolution time (4.0 vs. 4.7 years) were similar in both groups. Three years later, there was an increase in the mean HbA1c levels in both groups, with statistical differences only in the DEB group (8.40 vs. 9.93) (p: 0.001), but not in the group without DEB [8.57 vs. 9.01 (p: 0.06)]. An association between metabolic control and the presence of DEB was observed but not with the other studied variables. CONCLUSION: Presence and persistence DEB in T1D patients implies a worsening prognosis of the metabolic control in the future.
