Paediatric new onset type 1 diabetes and diabetic ketoacidosis during the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia.

AIMS: Despite emerging evidence of increased paediatric diabetes mellitus (DM) and diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) worldwide following the COVID-19 pandemic, studies in Asia are lacking. We aimed to determine the frequency, demographics, and clinical characteristics of new onset type 1 DM (T1DM) during the pandemic in Malaysia. METHODS: This is a retrospective multicenter study involving new onset T1DM paediatric patients in Klang Valley, Malaysia during two time periods ie 18th September 2017-17th March 2020 (pre-pandemic) and 18th March 2020-17th September 2022 (pandemic). RESULTS: There was a total of 180 patients with new onset T1DM during the 5-year study period (71 pre-pandemic, 109 pandemic). An increase in frequency of T1DM was observed during the pandemic (52 in 2021, 38 in 2020, 27 in 2019 and 30 in 2018). A significantly greater proportion of patients presented with DKA (79.8 % vs 64.8 %), especially severe DKA (46.8 % vs 28.2 %) during the pandemic. Serum glucose was significantly higher (28.2 mmol vs 25.9 mmol/L) with lower venous pH (7.10 vs 7.16), but HbA1c was unchanged. CONCLUSIONS: New onset T1DM increased during the pandemic, with a greater proportion having severe DKA. Further studies are required to evaluate the mechanism leading to this rise to guide intervention measures.

Behavioural and emotional problems in Malaysian children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus: A cross-sectional study in a single centre / Journal of the ASEAN Federation of Endocrine Societies

Introduction@#Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is an autoimmune disorder that requires a lifelong treatment regimen which may affect psychosocial development.@*Objective@#To identify behavioural and emotional problems in children and adolescents with T1DM.@*Methodology@#A cross-sectional study using the Child Behaviour Check List (CBCL) was conducted among all T1DM patients receiving treatment at the Paediatric Endocrine Unit, Hospital Tunku Azizah Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.@*Results@#Forty T1DM patients were included. The mean age of the participants was 12.4 years (SD=2.69), with 52.5% males, and 75% Malay. The average duration of illness was 4.8 years, 9 were pre-pubertal, while mean HbA1c was 9.4%. Thirty-five percent of the respondents had parent-reported internalizing problems and 17.5% had parent-reported externalizing problems. Those >12 years old had more internalizing problems (p=0.004) compared to those ≤12 years old. The differences were in the anxious/depressed syndrome subscale (p=0.001) and withdrawn/depressed syndrome subscale (p=0.015). There were no statistically significant differences in the 3 main global scores by gender, glycaemic control, duration of illness and pubertal status by univariate analysis.@*Conclusion@#T1DM patients >12 years old were at higher risk of developing psychosocial difficulties. This highlighted the benefit of screening of behavioural and emotional issues in children and adolescents with T1DM.